1. Know Which Type of Hosting You Need
Before you start looking for a hosting mate, take a moment to think about what you’re looking to get out of your next relationship. Just like light sleepers probably shouldn’t date people who snore, your needs will affect your compatibility with certain hosting providers and services.

2. Determine What Type of Site You’re Building
Just as how the amount of expected traffic or server load affects which type of hosting plan you’ll want to find, your type of website will determine which features are most important to have. Some hosting providers, for example, promote eCommerce functionality while others concentrate on blogging and search engine optimization.

3. Understand Which and How Many Resources You Require
New web hosting customers naturally flock to the providers and plans that offer the most features for the fewest dollars. Instead of just seeking out the most attractive partner, however, you can find greater hosting happiness by looking for a service that is compatible with your specific needs. Businesses might prioritize email functionality over storage, for example, while a developer might prefer high bandwidth rates and stringent security.

The technical features of web hosting might be confusing to beginners, and hosts sometimes use confusing lingo to market their services. You don’t need to be wary of mythical plans offering unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email accounts, but you should understand the various hosting components and limitations providers might impose.

4. Understand How Web Hosting Pricing Works
We know, price usually reigns supreme when shopping for a new web host. I’ve even been sucked into the low-cost hosting scavenger hunt. While your costs should definitely factor into your decision, don’t sacrifice support and performance.

Also, don’t forget to budget for services such as domain name registration and any themes or plugins you might need to add. Hosting itself can cost as little as a few bucks per month, and most providers will give you a discount for signing up for a year or longer — and that’s in addition to the deals our favorite hosts allow us to pass on to you.

5. Think Ahead: Choose a Host With Which You Can GrowDon’t be afraid to daydream about the bright, busy futures of your websites. Some of the more budget-driven web hosts concentrate solely on shared hosting, meaning you’ll have to part ways and take your chances out in the hosting dating pool when you’re ready to move forward with VPS or dedicated services.

We strongly prefer hosts we can stick with for the long haul. HostGator, our top choice with which to scale, makes VPS provisioning and deployment a breeze. Flexible software options, coupled with powerful hardware and award-winning support, make the company a great choice to usher your website from the shared to dedicated hosting ranks. HostGator offers unlimited free cPanel migrations and up to 90 manual migrations based on which VPS plan you choose.