1. Are they a real company. If they are operating in the US, and are not registered as a company this is a red flag, many states do not let you operate a business of this type without registering with the state for Tax and other purposes. If they are registered, check if they are in good standing with the state they registered under.

2. Checkout Methods - Paypal and Google Checkout are great methods of taking payments, but if they can not get a payment gateway through a normal bank it could be because the bank denied them. Banks do a lot of background checking such as the point above to ensure they are a valid business. Not a complete red flag, but it's a legitimate concern.

3. SSL - if your host does not use SSL when you go to check out or when you login into the control panel, it's best to start looking elsewhere. Were talking about real SSL certificates, self signed SSL certificates will be flagged by most modern browsers as such. Kudos to any company that gets the Green Bar SSL certificate, these are not handed out like candy and take extensive validation to get one, hence the name Extended Validation SSL or EV SSL.

4. Privacy Policy - if your host does not have one, it's not necessarily a problem, but make sure that the TOS/AUP states how they share your information if they do not have a privacy policy. Valid emails go for over 5 dollars to some email marketing places overseas. The can spam act in the US prevents this from happening, but some companies could care less. It's hard to prove who gave up your email. Don't make it easy for them.

5. Reviews, a company without reviews is new, so while not a red flag, and it's not a bad thing to try out a new company, one with a bunch of bad reviews should raise questions in your mind.

6. Unlimited Space/Bandwidth - in many cases this is a unsustainable model, companies like GoDaddy who do this are not trading on the stock market. If they did, their books would be open to scrutiny and you would be able to see how unsustainable it is. They play the ooh we might IPO game a lot, usually deciding to stay private after. However they are wanting to sell, so it seems like someone is trying to get away with their money/profits before it's too late. This forum is filled with a lot of complaints about unlimited hosts. Buyer beware!

Great write up! Another thing is might be to check our there attitude over the web if they have a presence, and if they are online a lot.

Thanks, great read!

Really great post with useful knowledge. I think reputation of the host is very important as well.

Web hosting market is fully saturated and because of ths reselling option availble it has become a very easy thing now. For me red flags are these.

1. Support ticket response time. If it is more than 1 hour, think twice before committing yourself with the host. A host that take more than 1 hour to respond is either really not interested in the business or do not have sufficient technical manpower.

2. Hosts that deceive you by claiming that a particular problem is not because of them and that is out of their hands. This is very important if you are not technically sound. The host rep can bombard you with technical jargon and getaway.I faced such a problem when i started my web hosting company. I would keep away from a host who does not own responsibiltiy and try to shift the blame on others.

3. Beware of the host who accepts and agrees to whatever you ask for during preselling. Don't be surprised if you do not find lot those after MBG period.

Now the Green Flags

For me at the end of the day what matters is the support. Even if we mess something the host should take care of it. If i find such a host then my search ends. I don't mind whether a company is registered or not, i don't mind whether the company is old or brand new, i don't mind about the reviews (most of them paid or manufacutered)as long as support is good.

The SSL Part is totally Incorrect, Just because a host does not have a SSL does not mean It is a red flag.

SSL is only needed when proccessing creditcards onsite using your own merchant account. What is the point of having one since every transaction is proccessed at AlertPay,PayPal,LibertyReserve we only get the callback request.

Please correct this thread, Some is true and the others are Invalid or just your personal opinion. :|

SSL is only needed when proccessing creditcards onsite using your own merchant account.
And logging in securely, and submitting sensitive personal details, and if submitting passwords into forms or help desks and so on.

SSL is not only about credit cards. ;)

And logging in securely, and submitting sensitive personal details, and if submitting passwords into forms or help desks and so on.

SSL is not only about credit cards. ;)

That's what most people buy them for though, I must Invest in a decent SSL soon though.

That's on the To do list.

Yeah some new companies are lazy to complete their privacy policy/terms etc... If they are so irresponsible about that, it's quite hard to trust them as our webhost

I must admit I haven't run across a website that does not use SSL for purchases in the past few years. I wouldn't give up my credit card to one that doesn't encrypt. So that is the biggest give away that they are not legit in my book.

Good set of rules for web hosts to follow.

nice rules that evryone should check before buying a new host

6. Unlimited Space/Bandwidth - in many cases this is a unsustainable model, companies like GoDaddy who do this are not trading on the stock market. If they did, their books would be open to scrutiny and you would be able to see how unsustainable it is. They play the ooh we might IPO game a lot, usually deciding to stay private after. However they are wanting to sell, so it seems like someone is trying to get away with their money/profits before it's too late. This forum is filled with a lot of complaints about unlimited hosts. Buyer beware!
This point is a bad stereotype and simply silly IMO. It's far from being unsustainable if you actually know your stuffs. People who claims that unlimited hosting sucks are simply dissatisfied with the company's poor level of service (poor support, slow servers, overloaded servers etc.) but what on earth has it got to do with being unlimited? Most of those customers' websites are no different from the average customer of a non-unlimited typical web host..

Another red flag is how long the host has been in business. I always check the domain whois to see how long the domain has been registered. If the domain hasn't been registered for very long chances are they have not been in business long, at least not under their present domain name.

Any web host that doesn't have a professional looking web site is a red flag IMO. Any web host that doesn't care enough about their business to have a decent web site very well not care much about their customers. To me web hosts with a shoddy web design is a sign of sloppiness.

I honestly like the fact that your billing login and your account login are two separate entities, not really much of a redflag but something to consider.

Oh! And make sure that their customer support exists if they offer it.

Excellent write-up, all hosts should use SSL, we certainly do. SSL also provides some re-assurance to the customer. Some hosts mis-lead. All hosts should provide what they say they provide, it is a must.

Support, support, support.

If it's not there, run! Time is money, and how many times I've sat at the PC, tapping my fingers, knowing how little time I've got to spare, while waiting to hear from someone.

For me, if a company has no one available to talk to you within 15 minutes, any money you've saved on a hosting plan is down the tubes.

Great, I used this when finding my host.

15 minute is only available if you have outsourced your support to india where they have no idea about what you want or you are a big face.30-6 ninutes respond is a standard time while 24 hour minimum is an industry norm.Support, support, support.

If it's not there, run! Time is money, and how many times I've sat at the PC, tapping my fingers, knowing how little time I've got to spare, while waiting to hear from someone.

For me, if a company has no one available to talk to you within 15 minutes, any money you've saved on a hosting plan is down the tubes.

Some of these things seem a bit silly.. I mean... 1 hour response times for support ?!?!? why not just be honest, id be happy with 2 - 4 , just cuz they SAY 1 hour.. doesn't make it so. Id be more inclined to go with someone that can at least tell the truth.
Plus, if you find a hosting company that offers TEXT based support , and / or phone / chat.. who cares about tickets being answered in 15 minutes.

I always read the tos.. sometimes you find some stuff that's actually good to know.. such as "unlimited" stats.. our TOS for example, clearly shows / CLEARLY shows, what unlmited means, and all of it's stipulations.

Some of these things seem a bit silly.. I mean... 1 hour response times for support ?!?!? why not just be honest, id be happy with 2 - 4 , just cuz they SAY 1 hour.. doesn't make it so. Id be more inclined to go with someone that can at least tell the truth.

I think the point is that your host should offer a response time that you're satisfied with. Some people feel that for any minute their site is down could result in a lost sale or customer. Be it 1 hour, 4 hours, or more, you should want any issues to be handled in a professional, courtesy manner in a practical time frame.

SSL is definitely a must if purchasing online with a CC or even just registering an account.