Every web hosting site is different and there are a wide variety of services available. Internet providers often offer free web sites to their customers. Many people prefer to purchase hosting services from professionals. Personal website hosts are often more affordable than websites that cater to business. A hosting services set up for professional usage will provide a control panel for access to the functions of the web site and management of its content and installation of scripts. These professional website providers can be easily searched online through the variety of search engines.

In order to make an educated decision on a hosting company it is important to go through all of the services provided and familiarize themselves with what should be available as part of a general package. Some companies offer discounts on packages that will help those looking for cheap providers for their websites. Some important aspects that to consider when looking at individual hosts are host uptime which is the amount of time a host is available. It is also important to be sure as you use the service your expectations are met as promised. Every attempt should be made to receive a full or partial refund if they are not.

Hosting can be of various types like:

* Dedicated hosting: Dedicated hosting provides the website owner its own server and complete administrative control and access.

* Managed hosting: This is similar to dedicated hosting in that you get your own separate server, but the difference is that you cannot manage it yourself. This is a leased service.

* Virtual hosting: A virtual server is separated and all users feel they have a dedicated service but they are really sharing the server with others. Each user does have their own access to an individual space on the server.

* Free hosting: Advertisement supported hostings are free.

Other types of hosting include, Reseller web hosting, Shared web hosting service, Grid hosting, Colocation hosting and clustered hosting.

The most common type of service offered by web host companies is the general internet access plan. This package provides all of the services mentioned above as well as site design and email access, billing information available online, content management, technical information, and backup services.

When selecting a web host provider you can use certain parameters to make a decision based on the important information you will need to have a good experience. Some of the important aspects to consider are Uptime, amount of disk space, bandwidth, support, and security socket layer availability. The top 5 companies that offer web hosting services are listed below selected for their abilities in these areas.

Top 5 hosting companies are mentioned below:

1. Hostmonster- Hostmonster has provided a large scale solution to customers since 1996. They are known to provide quality services at a lower cost. With secure and reliable backups provided by this company can considerably benefit the users. At the knowledge base of the company website visitors can get a clear picture of the company and its performances.

There are a large number of hosting features this company gives its customers including:

* Large amounts of disc storage

* Domain name

* Email addresses

* Additional domains

* Domain parking capability

* Advanced technology

* e-commerce features

* multimedia ability

* site promotions

* Other bonus features

2. Inmotion hosting: This world-wide service provider has clients that span the globe. They are flexible and reliable and enjoy many praises from their customers. They have won the Top Business Host Award 2008 and are listed in the top 10 hosting companies. They have awards for all of their specific services in 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008. They have served the internet community since 2001 with dedication and diligence. They share a partnership with CNET as a certified service provider, the BBB, and as an SWsoft official partner. The services they provide include:

* A dedicated server availability

* Virtual private server

* Business class provisions

* Cheap personal web hosting

* Management capability

3. Bluehost: This is one of the top hosting companies that have been serving its client since 1996. High quality customer service and maximum uptime are just small parts of the huge range of services offered by the company. High quality server environment, control panel and security features add up to the services rendered by this company. The reliability offered by this company has provided beneficial over the time. Both company and its clients are benefited by the wide array of services.

Along with the mentioned basic hosting services they provide this company has:

* Free website plug-in scripts like message forum, poll survey and software, moodle, PHP nuke, Tikiwiki and more.

* E-commerce availability with shipping cart, shopping cart, and a password protection on their directories along with other features.

* Multimedia features and world class technology are also there in the list.

4. RackSpace Inc. : Rackspace is registered as Rackspace Ltd. In UK. The company started its operation in 1996 and since then there was no looking back. This company is known to be one of the top hosting services company based in Europe. Some of the large companies using there service include, Vue, Confused.com, OnSpeed, The Army, Renault. The Sunday Times included this company in the list of 2007 best companies' award.

* Solutions for business of all sizes provided by

* Provides managed configuration and green configuration services

* Secure service

* Email access

* Email functions

* Database provisions

* Backup storage systems

* Administration and reporting

5. Godaddy.com: Godaddy is one of the Internet's most popular web hosts amoungst personal and business web host customers. They are flexible and authentic and have awards in their list that provide good proof of the quality of their service and their prominence in the industry of web hosting. They use lucrative discounts and promotions to entice customers which can be valuable for those seeking cheap hosting service. Along with their discounts they continue to offer the same services as big host services.

A sample of the services offered by this company are:

* Exciting 20% discount on package deals

* Expanded websites also qualify for discounts along with web designers

* Easy to use site builders

* Easy to use Site Builders

* Websites for both commerce and business

* Private auction functions

* Reseller ability