There are several web hosting directories, but as one example, http://www.webhostdir.com/ works like this. At the very top of the home page are two tabs, one for “Web Hosting” and the other for “Dedicated Server.” If you don’t yet know whether your businesses website will require a dedicated server, chances are good that it will not. Most business websites are small enough that shared web hosting offers adequate services for their website needs.

Underneath those two tabs is another row of tabs: Home, Web Host Search, Request a Quote, Web Hosting News, Guides, Hosting Forums, and Web Host Awards. The hosting forums are where you’ll find a lot of firsthand knowledge about what works and what doesn’t in web hosting. This is where the clients get together to discuss their web hosting experiences and to ask questions. You can sign up to participate in the hosting forums, but before you start posting, you should go through the FAQ section to see what answers are already available, and to learn the dos and don’ts of participating.

After looking through a hosting directory, and maybe participating in forums, you may have a good idea which hosting company you want to use. The directory will give you contact information for web hosts, and this is valuable information in your search. You should be able to go to your short list of web hosts with your requirements for disk space, bandwidth, and amount of traffic you need it to handle, and from their responses you’ll be able to gauge a bit about the web hosting culture at different hosting vendors as well as their eagerness to answer your questions and help you find the right hosting package.

In addition to presenting your needs in a web host, you should also ask hosting providers about basic things like how long they’ve been in business, and what methods of customer support they employ. Between these factors, your needs, your budget, and what you’ve learned from hosting forums, you should be able to make a wise choice in hosting providers. A web hosting directory can be your key to sifting through the many companies out there to find the one that suits your needs best.

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