1) Uptime:

 
This is probably the most critical piece of information you need to know to make an informed decision. How often a server goes down means lost business and lost sales and no one needs that. Our webhost is up 99.9% of the time as compared to the first one we had which was more like 25% of the time.

  2) Bandwidth Usage:

  Some hosts actually charge you for the amount of traffic you get once you pass a certain percentage. Why on earth would you want to be charged for that? Our webhost offers us unmetered traffic at no extra cost (this is what you should look for).

  3) Server Space:

 Look for hosts that give 50-500 mg of space. As the technology changes sites will take up more space. You should try to get as much as you can right now even if you don't use it all.

  4) CGI Access:

 This is critical. You need the ability to use CGI and especially custom CGI. If a host doesn't offer it, run screaming!

 5) MSQL; Real Audio; Real Video; Cold Fusion:

 This is the future of the web and in particular web marketing. Make sure a host offers support for these applications even if you don't presently have a use for them.

 6) Check the fine print.

  Sometimes you get a host, and accidentally go over space and/or bandwidth and they send you a bill for what you went over. Usually you can get another gb for about $1, but sometimes, if you go over, your site will go down. Some pay hosts will just send you an E-mail telling you that you went over and you will get another gb or so for free. This is one of the important things.

 7) Find out if your site will be up 24 hours per day. Some hosts will close down their servers at 3:00 or so in the morning, while some data centers will be running 24/7. You want to make sure your site is up 24/7, because there are a lot of late nighters on the Internet. If they go to a site that they need information from and it is not up, they may get really annoyed.

 8) Consider cost. You don't want to pay too much or too little. With some hosts, the less you pay the greater the restrictions are on that account. But sometimes the more you pay, the more it will be, like if you got a lower price one, exception for space, and bandwidth.

 9) Ensure you will get 24/7 Tech support. Some people sign up for a hosting service, and when you get it, you get a problem with, domain, etc. About 10:00 at night, you want to call your hosting company, and lo and behold, you get a recorded message. If you are going to get a host make sure they have good tech support.

10) Find out the operating system type. Some are faster than others, and offer varied features. If your host uses Linux, you are going to get support of probably, PHP, MySql, and other features. If your host uses Windows, then you're probably going to get the support of CFM, ASP, and ASP.net. Pick your OS wisely.