4) Development tools and add-ons

One of the most important features of a good web hosting plan that gives you room to grow (called scalability) is one that include software and utilities that will run on your host platform and allow you to add functionality and interactivity to your website.  Some examples of the kinds of add-ons you might see; 

Web Forms - The capability of creating forms for visitors to fill in and submit, either e-mailing you the contents of the form or having the form data automatically go into a database. This is a nice feature to implement because you can customize an HTML form to collect specific information and even program it require that some fields be properly filled in before the user can submit it.

Forums or Chat scripts - if you are a service-oriented website, or have products that require customer support during the purchase process you may want to eventually include 'Live Chat' support to interact with your customers once they land on your sie.  Forums are also a great way to allow your customers to contribute content to your site and share their experiences with other visitors.

Web Usage Statistics and Reporting - very nice capability to have so you can regularly check on visitor activity to your site, as well as tracking the progress/success of advertising or marketing campaigns.

Blogging Software - this is the informal term for "Web Logs", which allow a website owner to post daily (or more frequently) thoughts, links, advice, comments, etc to a web page where all the world can read them. Don't overlook these as a powerful marketing tool for your business - if you are a knowledgeable expert in your field and regularly stay abreast of news and industry trends your website "blogs" can be a valuable, sought-after resource for your colleagues as well as potential customers. 

CGI Scripts - CGI is an acronym for "Common Gateway Interface", but don't let that intimidate you. If your web hosting provider offers CGI hosting that means you can upload simple scripts into your CGI directory on your account (cgi-bin) and have some pretty handy interactive features running on your website. The list of possibilities here is endless, including scripts that will let your website visitors customize their experience of your site, as well as personalizing their visit. Visit this site for a list of FREE or low-cost CGI scripts you can use to enhance your website.

Web Feeds - This means simply being able to include a line of code or script on a page of your choosing in which an automatic feed of information will appear, being regularly updated without any intervention on your part. This is a very nice, sophisticated feature to use on your site if you include web feeds with industry news and trends related to your business or area of expertise (stock prices, for example).

Shopping Cart Software - this is ONE of the pieces you will need as a merchant to be able to have visitors purchase goods through your website. Some web hosting providers will include open-source shopping cart software as a value-added feature to their service offerings because it costs them nothing to include it. Be aware that open source, although free to use, frequently requires a thorough understanding of HTML and some programming to implement the cart. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves or pay someone else to handle the dirty work to get it set up.

 5) Security and Support ->