The answer to this question depends on who you talk to.
The Hosting Company is one of the most important choices you will need to make. It’s the second most important thing next to the domain name of the website.
The cPanel or Back End
This is where you will manage your website. Not the WordPress login to the live site but the back end of the website where it sits on the Hosting Company servers. Your website will be on a shared server, unless you’re a large operation and have a dedicated server for the website.
The Back End or cPanel, as it is named by some Hosting Companies, is not complex, but it is unfamiliar. Developers are at home in the cPanel because they deal with the FTP (file transfer protocol) and generally manage the back end of the website.
If you’re not familiar with FTP protocol, subdomain management, memory upgrade, and SSL certificate instillation… then you will need tech support.
If you like doing this yourself, you will be able to find your way around the Back End. Some Hosting Companies have customized this area and it is now easier to use to manage your website. If you run into a problem you don’t want to change or delete files in the database.
What you need is a Hosting Company with reliable tech support, and at all hours of the day and night. When something goes wrong you need to fix it as soon as possible. Downtime means loss of business and reputation. If you’re operating an online business this is what you don’t need.
Web Space
How much web space does the Hosting Company provide? This ranges from 3 GB to 10 GB. Obviously 3 is less than 10, you do not want to be limited in the amount of web space and 3 GB is not sufficient space.
Website software is continuously upgraded, improved, and debugged. No software works perfectly all the time. But when you need to press the Update button you don’t want a server error message telling you there is insufficient memory to support the update of the Theme.
An outdated Theme and WordPress version is a website ready to be hacked!
Reliable Tech Support
Depending on the Hosting Company you’ll get variations. In some cases there will be an extra charge for tech support. In most cases though the tech support is built into the monthly amount with Hosting fees.
How do you know if the tech support is any good?
Ask around and people will tell you of their experience. Since Hosting Companies are essential to having a website, you’ll get instant feedback.
My recommendation is based on my use of their services. I’m so satisfied, I am part of their Affiliate program.