As a small business owner, I am inundated daily (no, hourly) with offers: Printing, office supplies, outsourcing, accounting. Everyone wants your attention. Web hosting is no exception.

So, how to choose? I’ve had a few web hosts in my day and I can offer two pieces of advice:

1 – Do not shop on numbers. The “100TB for $1″ deal only sounds better. You’ll never use it. You and ten of your friends will never use it.

2 – The company matters.

The second point is the most important. You will need support at some point, whether it’s before you buy or while you’re a customer. A company like Superb Hosting, for example, offers a dedicated accounts manager on their managed hosting plans. Yes, that’s someone who gets paid to work for you. Compare that with the nightmare experience I just had with a certain web host (not Superb) who ignored my tech support emails for over a week, and you’ll see why this is important. A week is a lifetime when something goes wrong.

Finally, upgrade potential is important. Maybe right now you’re okay on a shared hosting plan. But when your business grows–and we all want that–the right company can take over your IT needs with secure colocation and tiered options to suit all sizes of business… perfect for when your SMB becomes an MNC.

When I was at school, I strugged with math and science after seventh grade. It isn’t that I didn’t try, but I’m ridiculously right-brained and no amount of concentration on my own could hammer those concepts into my head. I would have loved if the Internet existed like it does today, where students can go online and get help with math questions or chemistry homework help at the click of a button. With the new school year starting up, the timing is perfect to talk about where students can go for help if they have trouble.

TutorVista.com is an online tutoring service that offers 24/7 help in all subjects. From geometry help to physics help, they have qualified tutors who can assist all levels of students. All of this is available for a $99.99 monthly package, so you can get year-round help for your child for a very reasonable sum. Whether your kids need help with basic math concepts like prime numbers or in-depth chemistry help for college or AP exams, TutorVista.com has instructors that can help. You can even try a free demo before you buy.  I wish this had been around when I needed it!