The hosting of your website is an essential service, and you should always do your research before you sign up. Google can use the location where your site is hosted to determine the country your website is targeting.
This can sometimes cause significant problems when you have hosted your website in a country other than the one you are located in and which you are targeting.
For example, if you have a UK based website for your UK based company but you are using a .com domain extension, and you are also hosting your site in the USA, it could be straightforward for Google to assume you are based in the USA.
This could prove difficult because you would not be shown in UK specific searches (those that specifically target sites in the UK) and you would miss out on your most relevant traffic.
Usually, when you are choosing your hosting, your decisions will be based on cost alone. But there are many options you should consider before you sign up, including.
Cost
Location of the Servers
Up-time of the Servers
Ease of Contact with the provider
Technology supported and Supplied
Platform of the hosting (Linux or Windows)
Bandwidth
Web-space
The uptime of your hosting provider is a significant factor that you should take into consideration when making your decision.
Some service providers will now offer 100% up-time which means that they will ensure your website is online and available 100% of the time.
When choosing a hosting provider to try to go on recommendations or ask relevant forums for advice.
