Most people would opt for a Shared Web Hosting U service if they are concerned about the costs and if they are just starting out. A shared web hosting service is one which provides for multiple sites. Essentially many websites 'live' on one server which is connected to the internet, just like multiple tenants live on one apartment building. The websites that share the server share in the cost of maintaining the server and ensuring that their sites are secure, which means lower cost for each web site.
Bandwidth Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over the network in a fixed amount of time. On the Net, it is usually expressed in bits per second (bps) or in higher units like Mbps (millions of bits per second). 28.8 modem can deliver 28,800 bps, a T1 line is about 1.5 Mbps.
Not all Affordable Web Hosting companies offer unlimited amounts of e-mail addresses or e-mail accounts. If you are more than one person, a business for instance, you should consider web hosts that offer unlimited, or at least a lot more e-mail accounts than you need, to be sure you will not have to pay extra fees. You should also have a look on their web mail interface. Most web hosts offer web mail - but if it is poor, and you or other employees are traveling alot, you may want to reconsider your choice.
Paper checks are also an option with some hosting companies. The only drawback to this option is that you have to physically mail in a check each month. If your check is lost in the mail or arrives too late the hosting company can take your site down until the payment is received. Down time can harm your site's reputation and can lead to lost business or revenue.
Web Host Country - Depending on your market, this could be the most important consideration, and often the most overlooked. The physical location of your host servers can have an impact on your business if your target market is in your own country. Google UK, for example offer the option of either a UK only or a world-wide search. If you want to feature in the UK only searches it is far better to have your website hosted by a company who has its actual servers in the UK. Be aware that some Shared Web Hosting UK hosting companies who appear to be UK based companies actually have their servers located in other countries. Always ask!
Bandwidth (or data transfer as it is also known) relates to how many times your website is visited. Each file your page is constructed of all adds to the data transfer. If you have a page that is 2kb, with two pictures each of 199kb and you have a data transfer allowance of 1GB per month then you could have around 2600 visitors each month. That's about 87 visitors per day. The likelihood is you will have more than one page, and will want more than two pictures on some - if not all - pages. If you exceed your bandwidth then your provider will charge you a lot more for the excess, or will disable your website entirely. So the more bandwidth that a web host offers the better.
Finally, we have the hosting that is based on the operating system. Two of the most popular ones are Unix and Windows hosting. There are good and bad on both hosting and users should choose according their expertise because each will have different technical abilities in order for the users to run it well.