Today there are literally thousands of web hosts in existence.

Each of these hosts also has a lot of hosting plans for you to choose from.

This makes it difficult for people to choose a good web hosting plan for their web site. With this in mind, here are some simple steps that you can take to choose the best web host for your web site:

1.Determine what platform the web host is using and which one you yourself need to be using for your web site. This is usually either Unix/Linux or Windows. Your choice will be determined by what technologies you use to create your web site. So, if you are using things such as ASP and VB you will want a Windows server. However, if you are using PHP, Perl or Python, you will want a Linux server.

2.Determine what features you need the web host to have. Take your time! While some plans look similar, they may not be. Some key features that you may wish to have include: disk space, bandwidth, backups, guaranteed uptime, a money back guarantee, a specific number of domains being allowed, a certain number and type of databases, a set number of email accounts, CGI, PHP, Perl, Python, SSI and Cron.

3.Whenever you find some plans that look very similar to one another, take a moment to consider their price. If you find that you really want to go with a more expensive host, see if you can pay for a year up front and save yourself some money. Some hosts will actually require this but you may only be able to afford to pay monthly. This is something that you will need to take into consideration.

4.Do not forget to make sure that good customer service is being offered by the web host, just in case something should happen to break. Do not settle for anything less than 24/7/365 customer service since you will need your web site to be up and running all the time. Make sure to put the company to the test instead of simply taking their word for it though.

5.Make sure that there is an extensive knowledge base or FAQ in place. This will save you a great deal of time and also show you just what type of customer service expertise you can expect to receive. Before you go with any host, make sure that the questions in their knowledge base are answered thoroughly. They should provide real solutions, not just “cut and paste” replies.

6.Do a “whois” on the web host's domain name in order to find out when it was created. You will want a host who has been around for at least a year or else you will run the risk that your web host will not be around next year. Keep in mind that more than 95% of new hosts go out of business within a year. This is not something that you will want to run the risk of having happen to you.

You may do "whois" at www.learnwhois.com

7.Make sure that you look at the company's web hosting uptime guarantee and how it is defined. While most web hosts will guarantee a 99.9% uptime you will want to make sure that you will receive a full month of free hosting if this is not met.

As you can see, these steps are not difficult. It just requires a little bit of research and investigation to find the right web host for your web site. Taking the time that is needed in order to do this now will save you a lot of heartache later on.