As anyone who has even considered opening a web hosting account will know, the number of hosting companies available is vast, and growing each day. While the sector has under gone something of a consolidation period over the last year or so, there are still many options available, all offering different qualities and different prices. So does size really matter? Are you safer with a larger hosting company?

Let us not forget that when setting up your own website, hosting is the vital ingredient that you need to even attempt to attract business and customers. If your site is not live as much of the time as physically possible, then you will be missing out on valuable sales time - and your business could really suffer. So how do you choose a good host, and should you always go for the largest companies?

While in the majority of business you would feel safer with the larger companies, the web hosting business is a little different, as the larger companies do not always offer the best services. You may find great value in a smaller niche player who maybe concentrates on a certain type of business, or a certain area of the world. Do you really want to be part of a larger company where you are just a number, and may not receive the level of service / support which you would hope for?

The only way to really find the best host for you is to check their reputation, what they have to offer, and feedback in the market. If you have even the slightest of doubts about a web hosting company, do not touch them as there will be many more to choose from. You also need to find a balance between the cost of the service, the reliability and whether they could handle your possible expansion at a later stage. When expanding a business it is always better to stay with the same host, if possible, thereby reducing the risk of transferring sites, files, etc to other hosts.

Those who claim that cost was the main factor which drew them to a certain hosting company may well live to pay the price in the future. Price is a factor, but is by no means the over riding factor - reliability and confidence in the service come way ahead of the bottom line cost!