Choosing your web host is probably the most important part of setting up a web site. If you're planning to sell anything from your site, you should never use free hosting. What few dollars you may save in reduced cost will come back at you in lost incomes. Not only are most free hosting companies very slow, but they also insist on advertising on your site. Sometimes even with a popup new browser window which takes seemingly forever to load. For the average personal web site which doesn't sell anything, one of these low-quality hosts may be sufficient.

Is it too obvious to say that a person seeking web hosting should look for companies that have existed a long time, and that have received many positive reviews? Maybe. After all, it might be tempting to choose a web host with a small fee, even if there are few guarantees that the company has (and will soon have) a good reputation.

Even though different sites have different needs, it seems safe to say that nearly every site needs a host that will not fail, experience problems staying online, or prevent users from finding the most interesting and useful content.