It takes time to review each host. Browse all features, sign-up, create account, call support and install blogs. Our editors does not only simulate regular users on a personal level, but also sign-up as a professional business host. Think of us (HG) as the retail industry's Mystery Shoppers or the publishing industry's Ghost Writers. Everything is for real, except the intent. Just as a furniture maker puts their first batch of test models under extreme pressure, Hosting Guide put all hosting criterias on a tremendous stress as well. We upload large files, install too many blogs, send multiple support emails, test live chats etc etc. If you are in a hurry then the B-O-R criteria is for you. Web Hosting Providers with the highest average ratings hold a certain level of quality. High Quality.

How to choose the best hosting!
Choosing a hosting provider with a suitable web hosting plan can be a daunting task for many. Best way to approach this dilemma is to know what you value the most. Think about it. If you have a private blog you might not care so much about uptime. I mean, it’s not costing you any revenue streams correct? But on the other hand if you want to host an online ecommerce store with lots of traffic which generates serious cash, then of course you value uptime most. Nowadays most hosting companies are well above 99% in uptime. During the 90’s the stability of server infrastructure, redundancy and internet connections were a complete different thing.  So again, think about what you value the most. If you are internet savvy enough to install a few scripts or fix your databases yourself, then prompt response time from the support department might not be of utter importance.  Let’s assume for a moment that you already have a domain name registered. I’ll get back to that subject further down. Here are a few examples to get your brain cells up to speed. What feature do you value the most to? What characterize a good hosting provider for you?

What is Best Rating?
Best Overall Rating is the collective measurement of all criterias we have rated all web hosting providers on. Some people in the industry refer to it as "The temperature" or "Compass", our editors refers to Best Overall Rating as the "King of The Hill" grade.

• Full Uptime?
• Money back Guarantee?
• Good and prompt support?
• E-commerce front store
• Ability to host unlimited domains?
• A control panel like Cpanel or Plesk?
• Wordpress support?
• Easy installation script such as Fantastico?
• Heavy loads of traffic?
• Frequent backups?

The list can go on and on. But stop and think for a moment.  Also, what kind of hosting are you looking for?

• Simple Blog Hosting for Wordpress & Joomla?
• Advanced needs for a dedicated server?
• Java hosting?
• Application hosting?

Best Hosting is such a bold claim to make. In the end, only you can be the judge of what is best for you. The best hosting companies in terms of uptime have 100% from month to month over a long period of time. If they should experience an outage, most likely that will be no more than a couple of minutes in an entire month. It’s hardly noticeable. This list below is just a teaser to make your own decision. You'll find the most suitable hosting providers in the toplist below which our editors have taken time to review for you.