Setting up your own website is a relatively an easy process these days. There are a ton of design programs and plenty of information available on the Internet to help you get started. Also, It is not difficult to choose a web hosting company, but choosing the right host with the right features can be tricky.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the best hosting that matches your requirements. Price, plans, customer support, etc., all should be looked at in a great detail before handing over your credit card. Lets take a look at the top 5 factors to consider when choosing your web host.

* Pricing is probably the first factor that anybody will look at when choosing a plan. Too cheap and you may not be getting what you think you are. Many of the cheap hosting plans only include a selection of features. Conversely, the most expensive is not always the best either. Most companies will have a selection of plans available to compare features and prices. Linux Hosting Plans usually cover a wider range of programming languages since they cover all the languages on the LAMP environment.

* Technical and Customer Support are extremely important factors to look at when choosing your hosting company. Unless you know the business inside out you are bound to come up against a brick wall sooner or later or, the law of averages states that something will go wrong. Look at the support service that is offered. How is it offered - phone, email, live chat or ticket system? When is it available - 24/7 or just certain times of the day? Are the telephone calls free? All will have a bearing on whether the company offers you best support service for your requirements.

* Software is also all important. Is the web hosting company software compatible with yours? Do they support your web design software? If not do they provide their own software and how much is it? Do they provide the bandwidth you require and the online storage space? This is important, especially if you have a large website that is constantly growing. It's no good buying a plan that only offers a set amount of space if you are likely to exceed that within the first month.

* The features are the things that can make or break your website. Look at what features the different companies offer. Can you add a shopping cart to your site? Do they have add-ons such as calendars and traffic counters that you can upload to your site? Can you add extra domain names and email accounts? And do they charge extra for these features?

* Is the Hosting Linux or Windows based? Linux is one of the most popular systems as it is easier and cheaper to use. Linux have a much wider range of access choices. If you are using PHP, Python or Perl languages with MySQL database then you should choose Linux hosting rather than windows.

With the presence of hundreds of competitors in the web hosting industry, it is very important to read many web-hosting reviews before choosing a web host. If you need a reliable and affordable web hosting, consider reading HostGator review.