Thanks postasite. When you look at signatures on posts and threads in web hosting forums, how do you, as a prospect, know anything about these providers? I know, myself as a brick and mortar business owner, risk dire consequences if I select the wrong provider. I can't afford to take one step forward and three steps backward.

Employees trust their owners to make responsible business decisions, including the look, feel and professional presentation of their business online.

Perception is HUGE. If you're a provider, it's not how great you actually are, rather how you're perceived. If your support team fixes an issue the same as another provider, but your perceived support is condesending or shallow, your business will suffer.

A huge risk factor is the stability of the provider - will they be here tomorrow and five years down the road? When you have issues, do they have the resources to resolve them quickly?

In the case of whether your business is registered, the risks are exponentially increased if they aren't. What is your recourse if they close shop and keep your money? And this isn't just isolated to legal recourse. The time you waste chasing down issues relates to real dollars lost.