Purpose
Whether you're choosing a host for an existing website, or looking to start from scratch, what you want to use the site for should influence your hosting decisions. For example, do you plan to make money from your website, or is it something you're setting up for fun? If it is for fun or personal, free hosting will serve you well. However, if it is a business website, you require a paid host.
Price
Expensive does not necessarily mean it is the best. At the same time, you can not use a cheap web host for hosting your website especially if you rely on your website to make money. This is not a problem for small business and startup because they can upgrade later. But, blue-chip companies should never patronise cheap host due to their limited features.
Usability
Web usability is the ease of use of a website. The web host you choose has a huge role to play in making your website usable. The number one usability feature to look out for is if the web hosting provider has programs like cPanel, ispCP or ISPConfig. These programs allow you to set up and customize your website and hosting. Thus making it easier to use.
Speed
Expensive or cheap, you want a web host that is fast and responsive. It can be very annoying if your awesome and great website has a slow load time especially when you start getting engagement and traction. Simply, get a Web host that has features that make the site load quickly.
Customer Support
A web host provider must be customer friendly by ensuring they respond as fast as possible to your inquiries and complaints especially when your website is down. If they take forever to fix your website, do not use such a host. You can get information about this from your friends who already manages a website.
