Payment plans: Check out very carefully the payment plans of the web hosting provider. A monthly payment plan is always good even if it costs you a few dollars more. You always have the choice to change providers at any time you want. Most web hosts now provide a 30 day money back guarantee period.
Is the name you want already taken? Chances are this is a good possibility. Unless you hold the copyright on the name there is little chance you can get it inexpensively.
Bandwidth usage: there are some restrictions on bandwidth usage, even some hosting companies offer unlimited bandwidth. Usually they put this condition in "terms of service" section of their website. If you have a high bandwidth usage site like e commerce site gaming site or downloading site it maybe better to go to dedicated server or Hostinger VPS hosting.
3) You are just not projecting a professional image if you make use of free hosting. Hosting has become so affordable these days that there is read more no excuse any more for not having your own domain and your own hosting provider.
First of all you must decide what type of hosting you need. Will you publish a personal web page or a business website? For a personal page you can choose free hosting at first, then if your website becomes popular you can spend some money for paid-hosting. There are very good free-hosting companies that could serve your needs. If though, you want to promote your business online then you will need more power and features, a different type of hosting. one that can guarantee zero downtimes, because you want your website to be continuously online. So, how will you choose the best provider?
One thing you can do is ask other people for feedback regarding their experience with their web hosting provider. This way, you'll know if the web hosting company really lives up to their claims.