Do not subscribe to the first web hosting solution you find. You should take the time to compare different options and look for the following features.
Select a web hosting provider with a good customer service. Before subscribing to a plan, call the customer service to find out how long it takes to talk with a representative. Ask a few technical questions to see how qualified and helpful the representatives are. A low quality customer service should be a red flag; you need to find a web host who can afford to hire qualified technicians and provide immediate assistance in case you run into some difficulties.
Find out more about the different plans offered by the web host you are interested in. You might have to upgrade to a better plan as your site grows or as you get more traffic. Moving your site to a different server is an option, but upgrading to a better plan should be much easier. You also need to find out how many years your web hosting service has been around. Most web hosting services do not last more than a year; select a service with at least three years of existence. You might be able to get lower rates from a more recent service but you are taking the risk of finding yourself without a server overnight.
Pay attention to three main features when selecting your web hosting service; uptime, bandwidth and storage space. Look for a service with an uptime of 99.9% to account for regular maintenance, but anything under that indicates technical difficulties. You also need to find out when these updates and maintenance are scheduled so you do not lose traffic. Select a plan with unlimited bandwidth and make sure there are no restrictions and additional fees linked to your use of bandwidth. As far as storage space is concerned, choose a plan with enough storage space for your site to grow over the next six months or so.
There are other features you should consider if you think you will need them. Some web hosting services will offer you email addresses, a domain name and a site building tool. Keep in mind that you can get these features from other services for free. In fact, it might be in your best interest to register your domain name and get a professional email address from a popular email service. If you cancel your web hosting plan, you will still have your domain name and email address. You also might be better off with using the WordPress plugin to build your site instead of relying on the tool provided by your host. Make sure the plugins you intend on using are supported by your host.
Take the time to compare different options before you subscribe to a web hosting solution. Launching a website is something you should plan carefully and selecting a web hosting service is a part of this process; make the right decision and your site will be successful.