Finding a good web host can be a challenge, especially if you only go by recommendations you read online. You might think that reading reviews is the best way to find a host, but unfortunately that's far from the truth. To find a good web host you have to do a little investigative work yourself, no matter what other people say about it.

One of the first things to look for when trying to find a good web host is their support and customer service. Can you reach the host by phone? Is the support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? If you only have an email available for support and you have problems, how fast will they get back to you?

The problem with email only support is that you have no idea how long you might have to wait before anyone gets in touch with you or looks at the problem. With phone support, you will speak to someone when you call as long as they have around the clock support. For hosts that don't have always-on support, are their hours limited or can you reach them most of the time?

Even if a host claims to have 24/7 support, you should search on their name for support problems. Search on the host name plus phrases like customer service, customer support, or bad customer service/support to see what others say. Those comments are more likely to be honest that glowing reviews written by people who make commissions from selling the service. It can give you an insight to any customer service problems.

You can also call their support line and see how long you have to wait. Note how the customer service person speaks to you, whether they're knowledgeable or impatient. If you have a business website and it goes down in the middle of the night, can you count on these people to help you? If it's just a personal blog or something for fun, you might not get too upset if it's offline for a few hours. But be aware that a small support problem can turn into a big one quickly.

Another way of determining whether you want to use a webhost is its control panel. The gold standard is cPanel, which is a user-friendly way of being able to manage your website. Many programs are written specifically for cPanel control, and you may have trouble using them elsewhere. Look at the host's control panel and see if they have a demo available online to try, that way you can at least make yourself familiar with their control panel before you sign up.

Finally, look at the bandwidth available. That cheap hosting might seem like a great deal until you go over your teensy bandwidth allotment and are shut down for the rest of the day or the month. A low traffic sight might not even get near a gigabyte a month, but if you have your website up with the hope of growth, you may want to examine your bandwidth allotment to make sure you won't be shut down as soon as a little traffic comes your way.