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If your web site is important to your business, you need reliable, high-quality web hosting infrastructure and the expertise to keep your site up and running smoothly for all the world to see. This article aims to provide some pointers on choosing the right web hosting provider for you.

Most small to medium business operators opt to outsource their web site hosting and management requirements because they find outsourcing a more cost-effective alternative to the capital outlay, staffing and overheads involved in running a web hosting operation in-house.

If you decide a managed web hosting solution is the way to go, how do you go about choosing the right hosting provider for your needs? What should you expect a web host to actually do for your business anyway?

Let’s answer that second question first. Put simply, the key function of a web host is to operate and manage Web servers which distribute data (like your web pages) over the Internet. Looking a little deeper, you want a host who excels at the key roles of:

* providing and managing essential high-speed network connectivity and bandwidth to the Internet;

* managing and troubleshooting high-end web server hardware and software;

* securing and backing up all systems and data;

* providing constant network performance monitoring and management, and;

* providing the all-important customer management and support

But first things first. Before looking at potential web hosts, you should have a fairly accurate idea of what your own hosting requirements are, including:

* how much disk space you need to store your site, remembering to allow for room to grow over time;

* how much bandwidth per month you need - this will be determined by how much traffic you expect your site will receive;

* server features you need for your web site, like preferred operating system (Windows or Linux-based), languages/scripts (PHP, ASP, CGI etc), databases, control panels, email accounts, webmail, and statistics packages;

* how critical server reliability and up-time are to your business - if you run an e-commerce / e-business site then clearly your site’s maximum availability will be very important to you;

* the likely level of support you’ll need; and

* last but not least, available budget.

With this list checked and the results in hand, you now have a set of criteria that’ll help you narrow your list of potential hosts. That done, you can focus on asking your chosen candidates some questions about their operations. Some key areas to ask about are:

* the backup regime and disaster recovery policy and practices in place to protect against loss of your data - do they backup daily, nightly, weekly, to an offsite location, ask how much control you get over your own backup regime?

* the extent to which their network, servers and connectivity points are security-hardened against hackers and attacks;

* server up-time and performance: look for servers with fast CPU’s, lots of premium memory (RAM), make sure servers are built from only server-grade components, and ask about hardware and network redundancy measures - like RAID systems for protection against disk failure, backup power supplies, and multiple redundant bandwidth providers;

* look for verified service up-time stats from reputable third-party monitors such as Alertra;

* check terms of service, acceptable use and similar end-user policies, especially the anti-spamming policy - you don’t want to find your site and its IP address blacklisted and banned because someone else on your server is sending out spam (unsolicited bulk email), due to lax enforcement practices on the host’s part - this is a serious consideration;

* customer support systems provided, including helpdesk availability, knowledge bases, support forums, tutorials and how-to guides; and

* availability of a suitable upgrade path, so as your site and its traffic grow you can scale your account and upgrade your disk space, bandwidth allocation and other features easily and affordably.

While all that homework might seem like a lot of ….. well, work, it is important. It is always better and more cost-effective to get it right first time. Armed with the knowledge you’ve just collected, you’ll be a much better educated shopper and more likely to find a reliable web host with the right technology, know-how and support for your needs.