With the seemingly endless supply (and continuously growing number of) cheap web hosts, it can be quite the chore to sort through them all while trying to figure out exactly what it is that you need in a service provider. In order to give you a hand with this task, were compiled a lit of the top 5 web hosting criteria -what you should be looking for while deciding on the best host for you.

First on our list is Best Service, for what good would the cheapest web host (or most expensive, for that matter) be if they did not provide you with the best service available?

Service can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, which is why were going to break this down a bit more for you. First, need the best customer service out there, as you cannot deliver the best to the traffic on your site without it. Tech support is another, toll free, chat or otherwise. Assistance in building your website with the proper tools (WebBuilder, etc.), if necessary, is yet another.

Next on out agenda is Price. Exactly how cheap is cheap? Any web hosting service that charges under $10 per month is pretty cheap and have been spotted for as low as $2 per month. However, compromising 4 out of our top 5 just to save a few cents per day is not a wise idea, so be sure to read the fine print.

Quality comes in third on our list. If you website looks cheap, you will look cheap. Enough said.

And you mustnt forget about Performance! What is the percentage of up-time for a particular web host? Whats the percentage of downtime? What sort of guarantees come with one server compared to another? Better yet, what are their current customers saying about them?

Finally, we have Features. Bandwidth and disk space easily fall into this category, and will vary with your websites needs. The number of available email accounts is another. The ability to add-on to a small, cheap plan (to grow as your company/website grows) is an essential part of any website and web host, whether theyre cheap or not. The idea of having to switch web hosts because youve outgrown your current one is ridiculous. Add-ons can include larger storage spaces, more email accounts, shopping carts, blogs, and bulletin boards.

As you can see, theres a lot more to look for in a cheap web host than just a low monthly fee. As the World Wide Web continues to grow, so do the number of cheap web hosts- and price of such services continues to drop. Do your homework and stick to our top 5 list, and youll be the proud owner of your own website in no time!