What do you guys look for in a Web Host?

[one]

Stability, speed and support, in that order. Some users will probably have different priorities depending on their individual needs.

[seocourse]

I run over 400 sites... so in my case, I need 24 hour support, the only company that offers me a chat/phone suppor 24/7/365 is hostgator in the US....

[amisha12]

Hostgator is the best and sufficient in all ways.

[HWT]

We're in the market for a new hosting plan and still looking for the same things.

- Enough bandwidth
- Enough disk space
- NO LAG - quality of service is essential
- support people who reply is nice but this seems to be pretty universal

And preferably costing less than the sites raise in revenue but I can go a few $100 over for a short time.

[3DFOX3D]

I tend to agree with most posters comments but let me add my 2 cents worth. Much candepend on how many sites you want hosted. For most people or organizations it is probably just one or a few tops. There is a niche for Domainers - check out some domaining forums. I am a Domainer, I currently have 6 sites hosted by a quality host with great support etc (they also have my sites registration business, some 1,800 names, so I guess they have to look after me.) BUT - it is my intention to do some link farming / vertical web marketing by making some of my lesser quality names live sites within a category where I have a super duper name site and have those 6 or so lesser sites "feed" my main site - in this case I don't need quality support, I need cheap - if one of my feeders was to go offline for a while then it is not critical whereas the same ca't be said for the main site. e.g. I can host 100 feeder sites for $500/month using a GoDaddy type of host for example compared to the quality host I am now using which for 100 sites would cost me about $3000.

So there are many different market expectations for hosts.

Good luck in your venture - when it is up and running let me know - I might be able to put some business your way

cheers, Mike

[3DFOX3D]

seocourse - are they all your sites or are you sub hosting? what does HostGator charge you per site per month? I have heard some good reports about them. So how often do you need 24hr phone support. I figure I am asleep for say 8 hours during the night - one of my sites goes down for a while whilst I am asleep or is down when I wake up having gone down whilst I was asleep - I contact my host here in Australia to sort the problem - it is working hours here, they are awake, at work - why would I need 24 hour phone support ? 9-5 7days/week is serviceable don't you think? Or do you have some sort of alarm system in your puter that alerts you to one of your sites going offline and hence waking you? if so is such a program readily available, where can I get it? It may give me the confidence to host offshore. Serious here.

cheers,

[Hampers]

Hi
have am basically converted to hostgator but have been swayed by the idea of having a local host...

Does it have an impact on search results if your host is in the same region?

Currently my host identifies as Melbourne; Is it preferable to be localised or is it less of a concern to the big three of

speed, response time and price?

[HWT]

Hostgator looks interesting and they have a nice cheap $19 plan, but they have 20mbit connection not 100 like I've seen on some hosts ... anyone find this makes a difference? For an extra $20 a month other hosts have 100mbit ...

I'm running close to the end of my little holiday and need to get back to work so I need to seriously start shopping for a new host