When you are trying to figure out if a web host is reliable or not, there are several aspects that you need to look at. As with anything, use the internet to your advantage and do as much research as possible. Word of mouth is one of the greatest things to go by. If customers are not happy with a company they will do whatever possible to make it known.
There are a few different factors to take into account when judging whether your web host is reliable or not. Mainly, you have to look at the uptime to start. Anything less than 99.9% is not good enough. If there are constant down times when your web site is not capable of receiving traffic, you are losing out on money. This is a sure sign that your web host is not reliable.
Another factor to think about is whether the web host is capable of handling your traffic. The original page said unlimited bandwidth, but we all know that is not the case. Make sure that the web host will not automatically cap and close your web site when you receive a large amount of traffic. Any host that is rumored to do this to their customers cannot be called a reliable host.
When searching for information on a web host that you are not currently using, it is important to look past the biased reviews. Search through webmaster forums and look for unbiased information on the web host. Normally you will hear about all the different possible issues you can have with the company, and how they treat customers that are in these situations.
Large authority web sites also have a unbiased reviews to offer. Follow along and see if any of the same complaints are coming up. If downtime is a problem, there is no point in researching further, move on. Another major factor to take into account is how the web host’s support treats customers. If they are not capable of returning answers within a short window of time, they are not taking their business seriously.