Now generally speaking there are a few criteria, that are important to consider while choosing the best hosting provider.
First of all check the speed - super important! you want your website to be as fast as possible. The location of the server can impact the speed, the further it is from your visitors the slower the speed. At least try to have the servers in the same continent. If your visitors are in the USA, the server shouldn’t be placed in India.
Read the reviews. Unique reviews will help you figure out the weak and strong points of the hosting provider. For example, if you see the pattern of complaints regarding uptime, probably the host has some problems with it.
Uptime - at least 99.9%. My recommendation - check the tests done by other ppl. Some companies state they have good uptime, but in reality they have much more downtime than they say.
Bandwidth - best to find a host which provides unlimited bandwidth.
Check the disc space you are getting with the hosting plan. If you have a lot of pictures and videos, naturally you will need a lot of disc space, but generally speaking it’s better not to push the limits constantly.
Security is important - very important to have SSL certificate (sometimes hosts provide free SSL which is very nice and advantageous); also protection against DDoS, daily, semi-weekly or weekly backups (so if anything happens, your info is not gone)
Decent customer support - so you get answers for your troubles whenever you need, they need to be competent and reply fast. Have in mind, that if a company has a ticketing system probably you will wait for an answer for a longer time, compared to live chat or phone support.
If you are making your website on WP or some other CMS check if they support that platform, and ideally if it’s optimised for it. So there are no problems later on regarding that.
Naturally, price is a big player. Hosting market is very competitive, so don’t go for overpriced plans. Since it’s so competitive, every host is doing their best to keep the services at high quality, no need to pay extra.
Last but not least, it’s important to check whether the host is keeping up with the latest technology. Even the little things like newest plugins, and latest versions of programs can make things a lot better for you.
