Web hosting can best be described as a modern-day\rmarriage: none of this till death do us part stuff, it's\rmore like I'll stick around as long as your uptime is 100%,\ryou answer my frantic queries instantly, and you charge me\rless than a decent latte at Starbucks. What follows is a\rfew tips to help make the relationship less rocky and\rpossibly prosperous!

First of all, we all need to take a little responsibility\rand at least figure out what we think we need from a web\rhost up front. This isn't always as easy as you might\rimagine. You don't always know your exact needs ahead of\rtime, and sometimes these things are difficult to forsee.\rYour site may become hugely popular, requiring more\rbandwidth or storage than previously thought. You may\rdecide to have data feeds hosted on your site, which will\rgobble up resources. On online store can do the same. One\rway I've found myself in the position of having to change\rweb hosts is when a technology you want to use or implement\ron your site isn't supported by your host. This will (and\rdid!)prompt a move.

Ask friends and associates who they use. While their needs\rmay be somewhat different than yours, basic issues such as\rsupport and uptime will be evident, as will cutomner\rsatisfaction. Check out several of the web hosting\rdirectories, as they maintain a wealth of current\rinformation regarding the specifics you're interested in.\rCome armed with a list of things you're looking for and\rnarrow your choices down using this.

Make sure you can grow with this new host. Not only in the\rsize of your current sites, but also number of domains and\rsubdomains you can host there. If you're anything like me, I\rwant to be able to get the most bang for my hosting buck!

In short, due your homework, check them out, do your part in\rknowing as specifically as possible what you're after, and\rmake your choice. This could be the beginning of a beautiful\rfriendship!

Keith Thompson is the Webmaster of Web Hosting Providers a site offering and reviewing great choices for outstanding web hosting!