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There are so many choices for web hosts that it can be difficult to know how to make the right decision - and that inevitably leads to some people making mistakes. You don't have to be one of them, though; you can learn from the mistakes of others, and try to avoid some of the more obvious pitfalls yourself.

There are a lot of choices out there, so it's absolutely imperative that you spend some time thinking about what you need before you commit to anything. Web hosting done right can be one of the simplest and least stressful parts of launching your own website - but mistakes can quickly turn into a costly, inconvenient nightmare.

Mistake 1: Getting Suckered In By Impossible Claims

The two main culprits here are "unlimited bandwidth" and "100% uptime". Neither of these things are actually possible - servers have periods of downtime no matter how reliable they are and bandwidth is physically limited by the size of the cables coming out of the machine your site is remotely hosted on - but they're both claims that some unscrupulous web hosts like to make. Steer clear of those that do, and go for places that give you real figures to help you make a decision.

Mistake 2: Paying For More (Or Less) Than You Really Need

As with most things, you ideally want to find a web hosting package that's roughly in the middle of the price range available. The very cheap ones are full of scam merchants or even in the best cases don't offer as much as you're likely need, while the most expensive ones are usually rip-offs and are probably full of unnecessary bells and whistles. Avoid both, and pick something reasonable instead.

Mistake 3: Not Considering The Quality Of Their Customer Service

Problems are going to come up from time to time with even the most stable of web hosting solutions, and what you really need is to learn how to deal with them when they do. Good customer service can help with this, and it's important that you pick a web host who will be able to help you out when you need them rather than one who will leave you hanging.

Mistake 4: Waiting Too Long To Upgrade

Don't hold off on expansion - get a bigger package once you start to near the limits of your old one, rather than waiting till after you've already exceeded them. This will limit disruption for you and your customers, and is likely to save you a lot of time and money in the long run. This is especially true of bandwidth limits, the exceeding of which can leave you with either huge bills or an unacceptably long period of downtime.

Mistake 5: Going In Blind

There are so many web hosts out there that there are bound to be a few who are terrible as well as plenty who are wonderful - so it's seriously important that you don't go in blind and that you instead search for reviews and recommendations amongst other people who have done the things that you're trying to do now. Personal recommendations from people you know in your real life are always best, but in the absence of these - or, ideally, alongside them - you should have a look through some of the many reviews available online and try to figure out where you should place your trust and where you should steer well clear. It's not hard to find something that will work for you, but you do need to make a conscious decision about it.