There are millions of companies on the net who advertise themselves to be the perfect web company, but only few of them are REALLY proficient web hosting companies. In the world of advertising tactics and gimmicks, few good companies get overshadowed by the rest. There is no sure shot way to determine the perfect web hosting company .

is it possible to find a good company ?

It is possible by doing a bit of research. There are many hosting forums where you can find feedback on hosts, a quick read through will start to reveal the good and the bad.

My tips for finding a quality host;

1. Make a note of what specification you want (shared/dedicated, disk space, data transfer, control panel)

2. Search the web for suitable candidates and make a short list

3. Research your short list on hosting forums

4. Never buy on price alone, quality of support is much more important than price

5. Lastly, you can find some incredible offers - be aware if it looks too good to be true - it probably is!

Hi,
Try to scan their websites, their web content, and their site layout.
Compare between the hosting company websites, their features, analyze their costs read their content and then decide which is the best hosting company.
Try to get the opinions of the hosting company you choose from various acquaintance, business associates, friends etc.
While searching for a good hosting company, look for a clean, uncluttered and organized website. Every information should be layered in user-friendly and easy interface.
Drop A Ticket: The web hosting company looks good and reasonably priced but what about their service, their response time ? If they respond fast with satisfactory solution, you have found a reliable web hosting company.
If vailable , go on a free trial: The final test which will determine the reliability of the hosting company.
Bandwidth problems: Some hosting companies support unlimited bandwidth, but for large amount don’t just go for unlimited, fix a bandwidth as per your need as to avoid conflict if any.
Do they help you grow: Your website may be small now, but it may grow tomorrow Clarify these details how they are going to help you when you expand in future.
silvermoon

The fact is that there are many good hosting companies. You can
1. Checkout the netcraft surveys, short list a few.
2. Checkout the prices and offers, make your lists shorter.
3. read the reviews, search on the net. Ask the customer service few questions.

And always start with a monthly plan.

HTH

other than the tips offered... i would like to add that you should always read the terms of service of the host..

It's important to go for companies that offer money back guarantee. Usually 30 days. Some do offer until 60 days.

I think research is the key here, try to checkout the support at night and see if it is as good as it is during the day. Do not make a decision based on the cost alone as you get what you pay for. You can also refer to a few web hosting directories and compare the prices and plans of various host and accordingly take a decision.

I think you should look for these things in your host :

1.Reliability

2.Support

3. Integrated features

4. Price

I think research is the key here

I agreed with this train of thought. Before giving the host your money, you should find out what other customers say about them. Hosting forums, webmaster forums and search engines can all help find reviews.

I think the key thing is not to purchase from a reseller as they merely share space.
You want dedicated servers.

Also, good to excellent support is vital.

Hosting business is not such a big thing now, so they should be offering a lot as part of the deal - and then extras,too.

Another thing to look for if your host is using PayPal as a payment processor, click their name on the payment page and it will show you the date their account was started. This will give you a good idea of how long they have been in business.

call their tech support and ask them hard questions about the servers, if they can answer them there support is good.

go to www.whois.sc and do a reverse domain search and try a few of their sites for uptime ans speed

and last but not liest READ REVIEWS, not the top 10 lists or the things you get from the webhost. www.webhostingtalk.com and www.webhostingunleashed.com are the 2 best out there.

I would make sure the company is not overselling their resources. especially bandwidth.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the best way to select a host.

1) Print off the names of 10,000 web hosts and scatter them on the ground.
2) Get a monkey.
3) Train the monkey to pick up a piece of paper.
4) Lead the monkey to where you've scattered the names of 10,000 web hosts and get him to bring you a piece of paper.

That's your new web host.

Seriously, there are a few things you should look for.

1) Clearly defined ToS.

2) Money-back guarantee with clearly defined terms and conditions.

3) A policy that deals with spammers and scumbags in a zero-tolerance fashion (unless you are a spammer or scumbag, in which case YOU GO TO HELL! YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE! Sorry...that was Mr. Hat talking.)

4) Positive reviews that are well-written (not just "they r grate they host my site and it is gud").

5) Feedback from other webmasters if you can get it ("do you know XXX company"?)

Having said all of that, here's my choice for a good host:
Sectorlink

And now, here's why:

Uptime since July 2003: 100%. Not one SECOND of downtime...even during the North American blackout. And the time that they went down (July 2003) was due to a hard drive failure...that happens.

Support: top-notch. They answer questions, fix my problems, and actually talk to me like a human being and realize that if/when I call, it's a legit issue (I don't just call to *****.)

Services: they have a whole bunch of plans that suited my needs in the short, mid, and long-term as I moved to my dedicated box (which I'm on now with them.)

Stability: they've been around at least 4 years. I know, because that's how long I've been a customer of theirs.

Employees: they actually have some. I know, because there's a Brian and at least 3 Jasons (including the owner). There are others, but I don't know their names. I just know Brian, Jason, Jason, and Jason (and they're all good guys.)

ASP support: lots of cool stuff and add-ons with their hosting plans that I got to learn from (including my personal fave, ASPUpload.)

You choose these guys, you're making a smart choice.

Hope this helps.

The key to a good host is always research, research & more research.

Yep, that's right research is the key here, apart from testing there support system and uptime you should Google them http://www.google.co.in do multiple tests from http://www.dnsstuff.com/ post in some big forums like webhostingtalk and sitepoint for more feedback and also check whois http://www.domaintools.com/ink