An e-mail alias allow you to create multiple e-mail addresses for a domain. e.g. [email protected], [email protected], etc. E-mail aliases are sent to a specified POP mail account.

E-mail forwarders allow you to forward e-mail messages from one e-mail address to another address. e.g. you could forward [email protected] to [email protected].

E-mail autoresponders (AKA autoreplys) are very useful. You can configure an autoresponder so when a message is sent to an e-mail address, a reply is automatically sent to the sender. A great use an autoresponder is to inform a sender you have received their message. This is automatic feedback to the sender.

Shopping Carts
If you sell any products online, you will need a shopping cart system. A shopping cart system is a series of forms to help your visitors select and purchase your products with ease. You should pick a host that has a reputable shopping cart system already installed. This will save you time and the frustration of setting it up yourself. There are many third party sites that provide good shopping cart systems, and you can link to them from your site.

Mailing List
Mailing lists are a powerful form of communicating with your visitors. Mailing lists are generally used for the distribution of site newsletters or e-mail discussion forums. I have found that most provider, especially UNIX and Linux plans, offer Majordomo as the mailing list program. Majordomo is a very hard to learn and use. I don't recommend you spend time learning it. There are many independent websites that offer mailing list for your site that are inexpensive, or free, and have many features.

Web Based Control Panels
A very nice feature to have in administering and customizing your site settings is a Web Based Control Panel. With this tool you can change your sites settings like, e-mail address, sub-domains, site stats, password protected directories, etc. You would no longer need to rely on your provider to change/update these settings for you. You have total control 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Resellers Options
If you are a web developer and maintain many sites, this could be a cost effective way to host all your sites at one location. Many providers offer a substantial discount for multiple web sites. Anywhere from 5%-25% off list price (depending on the amount of sites hosted).

Site Statistics
Web site statistics are important for any website. It allows you to see the effectiveness of your site, dead links, most visited pages, where your visitors are coming from and much more. Some providers will offer you a online statistic package. With online stats, you can view your current stats from any web browser. If they do not offer online stats, make sure you have access to the raw log files.

FTP
All hosting providers must offer an FTP account, this is how you will upload your pages to their server. There are many FTP programs available. They can be found at hotfiles.com and download.com.

FrontPage Extensions
Did you create your site with Microsoft FrontPage? FrontPage will work with any provider but, then you will need to have FrontPage extensions installed in order for some advanced features of FrontPage. This is generally provided at no charge, but make sure you specify to the provider you will need the extensions installed.