Choosing the right company to host your website is one of the most important decisions you'll make during the startup phase of your e-business. While it's certainly possible to switch to another Web host, it's a hassle. Taking the time to carefully assess your needs and researching your options up front is a worthwhile investment. As a starting point, consider the nature of your business, your future plans, and your web hosting needs:

• How big will your website be (in terms of total hard drive space required)?
• How much site traffic are you expecting to have?
• How many email addresses do you need?
• Will you be publishing an ezine?
• Do you need a shopping cart setup?
• Will you need to process transactions over a secure server?
• Do you need to use server-side languages such as ASP, Cold Fusion or PHP?
• Do you need to use a backend database (Access, MySQL, etc.)?
• Do you want to include streaming media (audio or video) on your site?
• How do you expect your hosting requirements to change as your business grows?

Once you've identified your needs, both present and future, you are ready to start exploring your options. Ask your friends and colleagues for recommendations, or use one of the online directories to find some prospects. Use your "wish list" to review each hosting plan. Consider these factors in making your comparisons:

Disk space:   Figure out how much disk space will be needed to store all of your website files (HTML files, image files, script files, Web log or site statistics files, and databases). Websites tend to grow over time, and log files in particular can become quite large, so consider your future needs. Find out if you can easily upgrade your hosting plan to one that offers more space as your business grows.

Bandwidth:   Bandwidth refers to Internet traffic to and from your website. You use bandwidth every time a site visitor requests a page and your server sends them the appropriate HTML, image, and script files. Generally a hosting plan allows you a certain amount of bandwidth usage, and you are charged for any over that amount. This is another aspect of your site that will probably grow over time -not only will site visits increase, but you will probably be adding more content to your site over time. Make sure you understand how your host wlll charge you for bandwidth usage as your business grows.

Downtime:   Pick a server with minimal server downtime (time when your server is "down", meaning your website is temporarily inaccessible). Expecting to find a host with zero downtime is unrealistic since all servers need periodic maintenance, but a reputable Web will guarantee at least 99% uptime and it's easy to find uptimes of 99.7% to 99.9%. The less often your website is unavailable, the better (no website means no sales).

Fee structure:   Read the fine print and make sure you understand what you'll actually be getting for your money. Will you be charged for transferring your domain name or a setup fee in addition to the monthly hosting fees? Will you have to pay for access to technical support? Are there additional setup fees for databases, email addresses, etc.? Can you save money by paying for six months or a year of hosting at a time?

Server-side script support:   At the very least your hosting plan should include Perl/CGI scripts on your server. They will probably offer some pre-installed scripts that are fairly standard, such as email forwarding and hit counter scripts. They may or may not allow you to install others for security reasons, so check beforehand if you want to able to use your own. If you want to use ASP, PHP, or Cold Fusion, or want to have special components installed, make sure the host will accommodate you.

SSI support:   SSI's (Server Side Includes) let you use one piece of code on multiple Web pages. Because you write it once and use it again and again, you save time (particularly if you want to make one or a few changes that are reflected on many Web pages). It's also useful for creating Web page "templates" for a number of pages as opposed to creating them individually. Most, but not all, hosting companies allow SSI's, so it's worth asking if you plan to use them. The host may offer SSI capability automatically or you may have to ask.

Email options:   Web-based email (which lets you to send and retreive your email from any computer via a Web page interface) comes in handy if you travel a lot or just spend a lot of time out of your office. Also find out whether your hosting company will allow you to have multiple email addresses within your domain ("[email protected]", "[email protected]", etc.), which lets you respond to email more efficiently. Does the host let you set up autoresponders under your account, and if so, how many?

Shopping cart systems:   If you will actually transact sales on your website, you will need an integrated shopping cart system to process the sale. Some hosting plans include a shopping cart in the price, and this is by far the easiest solution as long as their shopping cart setup meets your need. If you'll using a third-party solution, make sure it will work on that particular Web host's servers.

Secure servers:   If you're going to process credit card payments or collect sensitive personal information via your website, these transactions should take place on a secure server. The data should be encrypted using SSL Secure Sockets Layer) encryption so it can be sent over the Internet safely. (You don't need all your Web pages on a secure server, you only need access to a secure server to handle those particular transactions.)

Mailing list management:   Does the hosting company offer an easy and efficient way to manage a mailing list? If you're going to publish an ezine or electronic newsletter, run an email discussion list, or conduct email marketing campaigns, having this capability is important.

Streaming media:   If your website requires streaming media in the form of animated introductions, short video or audio clips (for instance, RealAudio, RealVideo, MP3 and Flash files) make sure the Web host supports the technology you'll be using.

Autoresponders:   Autoresponders are useful for setting up automatic replies to emails that will be sent without any intervention on your part. You can use autoresponders to confirm an order, provide more detailed product information, send an article upon request, or acknowledge customer emails. Even if you don't have an immediate need for autoreponders, chances are good you will want to use them in the future, so it's nice to have the option.

Online control panels:   Control panels give you a convenient and easy way to administer your site online via a Web page. Control panels might be available for uploading files, setting up autoresponders, crating and updating databases, accessing your site statistics, changing passwords, etc.

Site statistics:   Monitoring your site statistics is vital to building an online business. At the very least your Web host should provide you with a "log" of visitors to each page on your site. Converting those raw log files into a form you can actually use and make the analysis available online would be the ideal.

FrontPage extensions:   If your website is being developed using Microsoft's Frontpage, you will need the Frontpage extensions installed on the server or some features of your website might not work.

Tech support:   If you're a new webmaster the task of uploading and maintaining your website can be a daunting task. Does the host provide technical support and a help desk to assist you? Are they available 24 hours a day? Is help available via an FAQ page and toll-free phone number, or email contact only? How quickly do they answer your emails? (Send them a question about hosting and find out.) Will you have to pay extra for technical support?

Track record:   Choose a Web hosting company that's been around for awhile. Web hosts do go out of business, and you don't need the hassle or stress or switching your site to another hosting company on short notice. Also, the staff at a well-established Web company will have more experience and will be able to provide more reliable service with fewer technical glitches.

Reliability:   Remember, when your host server is down, your website is unavailable. 24/7 monitoring of the network is a must for reliable Web service. Does the hosting company have a redundant power supply to keep your website up and running in the event of a power outage? In they experience an equipment failure, could they restore your website from backup copies of the files? Do they conduct backups daily? Will you be notified if your site is down due to technical difficulties?

Money back guarantee:   Reputable Web hosts almost always offer a money back guarantee. Most will give you 15 to 30 days in which to try out their services and allow you to request a refund if you are not satisfied. It's better to try out the hosting services for a few months rather than committing to a year or more up front - you can always sign up for a longer period once you know you're satisfied with the company.

Put together a short list of promising candidates and then compare costs under each plan, but don't make your decision based on price alone. If two companies offer the same features at different prices, go with the cheaper one as long as you're confident they're reputable. However, a hosting company might charge more because they offer more, in terms of convenience, customer support, or reliability. Don't pay extra for features you don't really need, but do choose a hosting plan that gives you some room to grow.