As the owner of a website and a small business, you probably didn't put much thought into choosing your Web hosting company. Be honest: can you even name it off the top of your head?

Many domain registration sites double as Web hosting companies, since it's an easy upsell. Once you buy a domain name, you may as well add on hosting—especially if it's marketed in a way that makes it seem like a great package deal, right? But hold on, are you really getting the best Web hosting services for your business and budget?

3 Types of Web Hosting

There are three major types of Web hosting: Shared, managed dedicated, and unmanaged dedicated. Within these three categories, you'll find endless possibilities of additional services (such as around the clock support), pricing levels, and how much uptime the company guarantees. Generally speaking, if a Web host offers anything below 98 percent uptime, you'd better start running. Let's take a closer look at the trifecta of Web hosting:

1. Shared Web Hosting

This is exactly what it sounds like; you share a server with other clients, which is what makes the price so much lower than dedicated hosting. However, the more people sharing the server means worse service in terms of speed, performance and reliability. Ask prospective (or even current) Web hosts whether they cap the number of clients per server, and if so, at what number.

Also, be sure to ask how many people you'll be sharing the server with on the day you sign up, and ask what kind of uptime they guarantee.

Shared hosting is by far the most popular and affordable option for small businesses. Experts recommend that you stick to shared hosting unless you have more than 3,000 unique visitors per day. However, do your research and make sure you find a suitable shared server that allows for fast browsing.