Features To Look For In A Web Host:

-Plenty of storage space and bandwidth allowance (ideally both should
be unlimited)
-Speed (fast connection)
-100% uptime
-Ability to host commercial or adult sites
-PHP, CGI, SSL, and ASP support
-Built-in support for MySQL and Microsoft Access databases
-Ability to simply upload your files through a true FTP or SSH
connection instead of using a browser-based builder, but with a web-
based file manager available as well
-No server-controlled pop-up ads
-Visitor information statistics, including what browsers your viewers are
using, what screen resolution they are set to, where they link to your site
from, what they searched for if the link was from a search engine, what
times and dates each file on your web space is accessed, and what
geographical location the visitors are from
-Your own domain name, including Web server (www.something.com),
multiple e-mail addresses (yourname@something.com), and multiple
subdomains (subdomain.something.com)
-Financially stable company which won't go out of business soon
-Low price

Remember, in order to set up an Internet site with your own top-level
domain (TLD), not only do you need to pay an InterNIC-accredited
registrar the fee to register the actual domain, you also need to have two
(not one, two) dedicated DNS servers to resolve the domain name
(because the InterNIC requires two DNS servers for every domain
registration), *plus* the actual Web server to store the files that make up
your website. (Unless you sign up with an all-in-one host that combines
these services for you, as many do.) Bear in mind that although you must
buy the actual domain name from an InterNIC-recognized registrar,
neither InterNIC nor this registrar carries a record of the IP address for
any domain name; That is the DNS system's job. InterNIC only holds a
record of the ownership of the domain, and two DNS servers which can
be trusted to hold up-to-date records of the DNS information. The actual
DNS server(s) are responsible for keeping records of the host name's IP
address and broadcasting changes made to any such addresses.