Scalability
When you first start out doing affiliate marketing it is not likely you will be inundated with traffic and have huge amounts of content. So initially you could use a low-priced shared hosting option. But as you grow and do increase those numbers you will need to upgrade, so scalability is something to consider when looking for your hosting.
Why have to change hosts and move your content and deal with site migration headaches when you can find a hosting company that will allow you to upgrade as your needs increase.
Other elements in the selection process are the type of hosting available. The three major types are shared hosting, virtual private server (VPS), and dedicated servers. Pricing for the lower option shared hosting vary but again you should be looking at the criteria above - Namecheap has EasyWP which is a Wordpress hosting option for example that runs just under $2.50 a month for the first year.
You will also want to know how easy or hard it is to initially set up your hosting. Managed hosting can take care of a lot of that but you will also need to design the site. The ability to use a content management system (CMS) like Wordpress, Drupal or Joomla should be considered.
When you start your affiliate marketing efforts you should map out how you plan on doing your affiliate marketing and use that information in selecting your hosting. Most marketers use informational content to generate sales, so at the start hosting may not need any major hosting. If you start to build other sites to market different products and services then the need for more robust hosting will become an option. When you first start out, it is generally smart to go for a simple, less expensive plan. Namecheap offers EasyWP.com as one such solution, hosting a pre-installed and managed Wordpress site ready to be customized by you.
Namecheap offers a great affiliate program for people to sell hosting, domains, SSL certificates and other products. The Namecheap hosting packages are competitively priced with some of the best deals for entry-level and dedicated servers in the industry which helps affiliate sales.