There is many considerations to take into account when looking for a host. Realize that just because a hosting account charges more, doesn’t necessarily mean they are better. The best way of finding a web host is through reading other’s feedback. There are some very good and also some very bad ones out there, all with similiar priced plans.

If you have multiple active or parked domains, then I recommend choosing a web host that allows you to have add-on domains on a shared hosting plan. This is where you can host multiple domains under one account, for usually 10 to 20 a month. This saves you a lot of money, than if you had hosted them seperately.

One important thing to realize, is that web hosts oversell their hosting, so when they say 3000 GB bandwith or some other large number, it is just a advertising gimmick. What will happen instead, is when your traffic gets too high, you wind up using too many CPU resources at once, long before you would hit that bandwith limit. CPU resources is the true bottleneck, not total bandwith used per month. Anytime you hit their 25%(differs by host read the TOS) of the server’s CPU resources, they will shut your account down temporarily. This is caused by large spikes of simultaneous traffic that can happen when you are receiving thousands of unique visits a month. The reason they have to shut your account temporarily is because on shared hosting, you cause every single account on that server to be effected. If it becomes a problem, then you have no choice, but to upgrade to a dedicated server. They are pretty costly, starting at $150-200 a month, but what happens on your server won’t affect others.

I currently host all my websites with Hostgator and highly recommend them. Their servers are fast, their support is friendly, and all their plans come with Fantastico and Cpanel. Fantastico is great because with the click of the mouse, it can install all the free major blog, forum, shopping cart, gallery, mailing list, and content management system software. It will also automatically tell you when there is an update on the software and you can install an update with a click of a mouse. This is especially handy when you have multiple websites. Cpanel is the most common web hosting software administration software, so I recommend using a web host like Host gator to get familiar with using it.

Hostgator’s Hatchling plan will host one domain on the 1 year plan for 84 dollars, but they often have coupon offers on their site which saves you money. If you have multiple domains or plan on running multiple domains or parking them, you can host them all under their Baby plan. The baby plan is $9.95 a month, however you can get it cheaper by prepaying 2 or 3 years in advance or using coupons on their site.

Some people find that they want to sell their unused bandwith to others through the use of a Reseller Hosting account at Hostgator. For example, say you have 4 domains, you can host all of these on a reseller account, and then can sell a few more accounts to someone else. The reseller account costs more, but if you are re-selling to a few at a lower price than what hostgator charges, you can make up for the price difference and make a profit from re-selling your account. You are basically your own miniature web hosting company in the process.

If your website(s) are handling a very large amount of traffic you will have to use Hostgator’s Dedicated Server. plan. This should only be necessary for those with dozens of medium trafficked sites or one very large trafficked sited.