Being reliable is the single key factor that you should look for in a web host. Webmasters and online entrepreneurs rank reliability as number one in importance when surveyed.

What does "reliability" really mean? Most web hosting companies upgrade their systems. Most are technically competent. Most have products for sale at reasonable prices. The only difference may be in their quality of customer service. Where you need "reliability" most is in customer service.

When you have a problem with your website, will you receive timely, no-nonsense answers? Unfortunately, with many web hosts, the "no-nonsense" concept seems to be decidedly lacking.

If you have ever talked to a web host technical support person you get the impression they are handling three or four calls all at the same time. That's because they have thousands of clients, and often the problems come in waves. And that can lead to frustrating conversations with your tech person.

Often times the customer service or technical support agent will just simply assume that the problem is your doing. You will get the typical response of, "Have you done this?" or "Have you done that?" All of these responses from technical support assume that the issue is at your end.

While sympathizing with this approach is not too far fetched, as it is, in many cases, a user issue. However, often it isn't and you will find nothing more infuriating than wasting time attempting to troubleshoot from the website only to discover that the host needed to reboot their server to fix the problem.

Historically, it has been very inconvenient to change web hosts. Therefore, web hosting tech support people have had little incentive to provide high quality customer service. Too often, they seem to consider themselves employing their clients and not the other way around. No surprise, their customer service has been inferior.

Many hosts will assist you if you want to transfer your domain to their system. Alternatively, there is now enough step-by-step information available for you to change hosts on your own. This is definitely a welcome change.

There, is, sad to say, no completely reliable way to ensure that you will receive the best customer service.

To compare web hosts, you can examine web host review sites, but many of these sites are unreliable. Since most such sites exist to resell hosting services, the reviews tend to be biased. Sites that allow reviews and comments by outsiders can be easily manipulated. Many hosts will post their own reviews, containing fulsome praise for their own sites and harsh criticism of their competitors.

Forums on sites about web hosting can also supply reliable information, though they may be subject to the previously mentioned manipulations. However, the rapid pace of change in the web hosting industry means that comments over a year old are probably no longer applicable.

A good indicator of a host's support system is the host's website itself. If you find the host's website confusing and overly technical, this is an indication of potential trouble. It is a strong indication that you may have trouble using the host's support system. Further, it indicates that the host may not be good at communicating with clients in plain and simple language.

A simple layout with a minimum number of customer-oriented products and an easily-accessed support system suggests the company is customer-focused. It is also good to contact the customer help desk in advance just to see what kind of reception you get.

You should also look for testimonials from real web hosting customers. Make sure they are clearly identified with names and website addresses. If you really want to be aggressive, you might contact some of these people directly.

Of course none of this is fool-proof. But given the highly competitive nature of the web hosting business, all other things being equal, a simple, straightforward customer-focused approach is what you should be looking for in a web host.

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