Many hosts offer a plethora of features with their hosting plans and it can be quite confusing to figure out what you really need. Here are some of the most important features you should look for in any web hosting plan:

• Disk Space: This is a measure of how much stuff you can store on the server. Disk space is measured in either computer megabytes, (1 MB = 1,024 KB) or metric standard gigabytes, (1 GB = 1,000 MB). If you are unsure how disk space is measured, you should ask the host. How much space you actually need depends on what you plan to do with your website. If your site is going to be just a few static web pages that won't change often, then you could probably do with as little as 20 MB of disk space. If you plan on creating an online photo gallery, expect to need a lot more disk space, several GB, typically (pictures and media files tend to take up a lot of space). Generally most people seem to think they need far more disk space than they really do. The key is to get a bit more than you think you will use right now, but not too much more. When in doubt, assume you will use less disk space than you think you need.
• Bandwidth: Bandwidth is a measure of how much data is transferred to or from your hosting account. Typically this is measured in computer gigabytes. Again, if you are unsure about how your host measures bandwidth, be sure to ask. Bandwidth includes any and all traffic coming to or from the server for your domain including web pages, FTP transfers, e-mail, and so on. Bandwidth on most cPanel servers is measured from the beginning of one calendar month to the beginning of the next. Bandwidth is typically reset some time on the first of every month. People tend to use more bandwidth than they think they need, so getting more is always a good thing. Many hosting companies make obtaining extra bandwidth rather expensive (sometimes as much as $5 per extra GB over the standard plan amount), so generally it is better to upgrade to the next higher hosting plan rather than pay for extra bandwidth every month.
• MySQL Databases: Databases are used to store information. Even though you may never have used a database before, you will need at least one for web hosting. The reason for this is that many web-based programs (typically called scripts) use a database to store data that gets accessed regularly. For example, many forums and photo gallery scripts require the use of a database. While you can often get away with just one if your needs are modest, you should ideally look for plans with unlimited databases so you can feel free to use as many as you need. Keep in mind that data stored in databases typically counts against your disk space usage, so while you may be able to create as many databases as you want, you still cannot go over
  the total disk space assigned to your hosting plan
• PHP: PHP is a programming language that a lot of web-based scripts use. Make sure any host you choose offers at least PHP 4.4.1 or later.