Here are the qualifications that I currently use for selecting a hosting company now and who I am currently working with:
• Secure
• Fast (availability of T3 or more
• Lots of space for growth
• Daily backups
• CGI (common gateway interface) access, which is a common way for Web servers to interact with users
• No contracts required
• Shopping cart access
• Good downtime record
• E-mail accounts
• FTP access for uploading files