Yes indeed, who would have thought it, but your web hosting provider could indirectly be costing you the chance of good placements in the major search engine Google.
It is much simpler to set up the server to handle anonymous FTP and SSL encryption if the server has got a dedicated IP address. And this is possible in case of dedicated web hosting only. Well, it is possible however it is much more difficult in the case of Shared Web Hosting UK. Hence, one can make a choice her as well.
The availability of the network provides the uptime for the website. Usually, this network is located in data centers with powerful internet connection. Therefore, it will provide stable network for the websites to assure that the Shared Web Hosting UK hosted are working perfectly fine. For the servers to be located in the data center, we called it the network uptime.
Popularity does not guarantee you a good service. Many popular host start of small and offering a good service but once their popularity grows they start to become complacent and their product suffers. It may not always be the case but it happens more than you'd believe. Also becoming popular nowadays can simply be a case of having the largest advertising budget.
Which all brings me back to what is Affordable Web Hosting? I have my pages hosted at GVO and I pay a higher monthly cost than if I used certain other cheaper hosts.
Ask for reviews about particular provider in the leading hosting/webmaster forums. This way you will be able to find out more about host's reputation among its peers. You will see what are the pros and cons of the service. Note there is no "perfect provider" but there are a lot of awful ones.
My one bit of good advice is do not sign up with any server for a long period of time to start with. It will be cheaper in the long run but at first just sign up for a little while. Try before you buy, make sure that the service provider is able to meet your expectations. If it does, then sign up for a longer period and save money.