Most people think that if they use an affordable web hosting service then they would have to compromise on quality. However, this is not entirely true. As an online business owner, the cost of building and running your website would be your primary concern. Thanks to the advancement in technology, things are getting more and more affordable, including web hosting services. Nowadays online business owners have the option to run their website at an affordable price and it would greatly benefit them.
Customer service has to be looked into, seriously many providers think that because they offer cheap Shared Web Hosting UK that they don't need to support their users to a high standard. BS, you paid them for a service so they should damn well provide it. The truth is many webmasters encounter difficultie and at these times they need the support of their hosting provider. Ignore the importance of customer support and you will regret it.
Linux web server is very well-known that capable of running hundreds of tasks at the same time with stability. But it doesn't mean Windows web server is bad. The right term would be like this; Linux can max out server capacity but windows can not. So web hosting company maybe do this: 400 Shared Web Hosting UK hosting account if using Linux and 350 shared hosting account if using Windows platform.
Up-time is the over all time the hosting company promises that their servers will be up and running. Some claim to have 100% up-time, but I find that to be almost impossible to have so I tend to go with the ones claiming a 99,9% up-time. This tells us that even though they take back-ups, have mirrored servers and all other stuff to keep the servers safe and running, there is always a small possibility that the servers can go down.
You can save on the cost of setting up a website. This is the most obvious benefits that new business owners keep in mind when selecting a provider. Today, there are many Affordable Web Hosting out there and they become a great option for newcomers to start a business.
Ask for reviews about particular provider in the leading hosting/webmaster forums. This way you will be able to find out more about host's reputation among its peers. You will see what are the pros and cons of the service. Note there is no "perfect provider" but there are a lot of awful ones.
My one bit of good advice is do not sign up with any server for a long period of time to start with. It will be cheaper in the long run but at first just sign up for a little while. Try before you buy, make sure that the service provider is able to meet your expectations. If it does, then sign up for a longer period and save money.