For domain name registration I would suggest taking a look at www.no-ip.com - the advantage of registering here is that you can administrate your domain names yourself and avoid headaches if you become unhappy with you hosting provider and have to switch.

As for choosing a host provider that may depend on who or which tools you choose to develop the content and whether or not it is a data driven site:  The linux platform hosts tend to be more affordable and offer open source tools, scripting, database engines, etc.  whereas the ASP and ASP.NET hosts are more Front-Page friendly, offer MS Access and SQL database engine back-ends, but tend to be pricier.

If all you need is space to post static content you'll probably find a linux based host to be sufficient. Look for good customer service and search Google for positive customer feedback.  

You may find Cnet's guide to be helpful.

hootis -  as a happy user with no-ip.com (as i have run/do run web/game/mail/ftp server from my home)i don't really understand your reason for suggesiting them to this person for the reasons you pointed out.  the domain name registration from companies like godaddy and others allow you to easily configure where your domain name points to through the dns server information that you input.  if you are not happy with a certain hosting provider, you would just setup with another and then change the dns info with godaddy.  no-ip is, in my opinion better for people that want to run websitesite/mail/ftpgame servers from their home or business and maintain all of their own hardware/software.  also, godaddy.com is pretty cheap.  this is not to knock what you are saying but i don't see the benefit for this person, maybe i am missing something.

slidestop - there a quite a few options out there for you.  what size is your site going to be initially?  how big is your company?  there are quite a few out there that start off for $50/year and allow you to add additional features as your business grows.  go with somebody who has been around for some time.

I had problems (intermittent site availability) a few years back with a hosting provider who I had registered a domain name with. As a result I chose to move my site to another host and it took a week to transfer the domain name. Meanwhile my domain name resolved to the IP of the initial host which was down. Typically a domain name transfer would be smoother. Nevertheless, I prefer managing name registrations and DNS at no-ip.com (or other such similar service providers) and separate from the hosting provider.

Certainly there are other options – this is just my 2 cents.

Quoted: I had problems (intermittent site availability) a few years back with a hosting provider who I had registered a domain name with. As a result I chose to move my site to another host and it took a week to transfer the domain name. Meanwhile my domain name resolved to the IP of the initial host which was down. Typically a domain name transfer would be smoother. Nevertheless, I prefer managing name registrations and DNS at no-ip.com (or other such similar service providers) and separate from the hosting provider. Certainly there are other options – this is just my 2 cents.

i definatly understand what you are saying, but they say that it take about 72 hours for all the domains around the world to get your updated dns info.  in my personal experience i have noticed godaddy to be slower than others, but again, they are cheap :) and i am cheap bastard... :)

Quoted: Thanks for the responce . I don't think my web site will be that big ,but who knows.  I'm in the mobile detailing business , content on the site would be pictures of before and after work and possibly a photo gallery of customers cars.  I don't need email ( I just use yahoo.) Right now I'm the only worker , I don't see that changing anytime soon. So over all we're not talking a huge site with tons of graphic's.

from your descriptions here, one of the $50/year hosting plans would be exactly what you need.  i would also make your emai something like [email protected].  to me, personally i find this to be more professional.  it is just an opinion.  most of the hosting companies offer webmail too.

I use godaddy for all of my domains, and I have no complaints.

As for hosting, I can't say. I "roll my own", as it were. The 2 T1's my penguin power are on are donated

Quoted: Anybody else have something to add .

I use Dotster.  

(shrug)

It works, and it lets me manage everything.

I registered a couple of domains at gandi.net for $12 each.  They offer a couple of options for DNS (theirs or yours), and they'll redirect a couple of email addresses to other accounts if you use their DNS.  

Unfortunately, they're French.  So long as you don't mind giving money to the rifle-droppers, they're all right.