What are some things on the must-have list for choosing hosting?

I know I need to worry about customer service, cost, and space but what are some other things that are important but not something you may think of when purchasing hosting for the first time?

Hosting today tends to come with way more things than a new user is likely to need. The most often mistake newbies do is to take things at face value.

Things like the ones you mentioned are the outer skin of a hosting company, and any host can boast 24/7 support, minimum prices and huge space allocations. Those things are often enough almost non important because an offer is a promise, and a promise may or may not be kept.

The company must promise what you need, but it is customer reviews must confirm that they keep their promises.

A small checklist I use when choosing a webhost is whether the features they have are ones I need. I also look at space, cost, customer service and response time to my presales questions.
I also look into what other people have said about them and how long they have been in the business. Of course, newer companies are good too but I prefer to go with companies that have been around a bit longer

The number 1 thing I'd do is find customer reviews of the host.

I used to work for a company that required very high reliability, so I would always call and talk to someone. I would have them transfer me to a tech and ask him about their systems; backup power/generators, internet connections, redundancy, fire suppression, how many 9s, etc.. this was mostly to get a feel of how well-established and professional the facility was, and to try and guage the level of knowledge and experience of the random tech I talked to. Most of these hosts were international, which adds a certain element of uncertainty, as well.

However, customer reviews are probably the best test of overall quality, especially of their customer service.

Definitely check google and see if you can find reviews.

I think there are a lot of review web sites where you may find reviews of this company.

when your looking for a host i suggest you pick out a few and narrow it down further by mailing their sales teams to see what the response time looks like. if you like what they say then give them a try.

you can ask around but ultimately not everyones experiences are the same.

Almost all hosts oversell - that means you need not worry about the space and bandwidth any more.

That also means you will have to worry about the uptime. Go with hosts that has a good reputation of providing good uptime.

Customer support is also very important. Some hosts just give you a copy of TOS if you ask a newbie question. Go with a host that has a friendly support.

Your PHP configuration and features supported also matters. To make it simple, go with a host that offer "cPanel" control panel. You are sure to get almost everything you might need.

Wow, this is actually an awesome topic idea!

Anyway, many web host review sites now do a breakdown on all features and specifics regarding a web host and what it offers.

The most important features for me are enough bandwidth, high stability,great customer service,and the host must also be trustworthy, and not likely to screw you with hidden or extra charges.

cost, uptime, customer support, basic features, extra features, promos

You should also check for any comments of your host's customers - past or present. In this way you'll have a picture of what your relation with your host will be.

data transfer is one of the most important things, you could find a host that has huge diskspace but if it has a low data transfer limit, then there is no point getting it, if you expect to have a large userbase a decent size is required