In my opinion there isn't the best, but only a good reliable web hosting for your site needs. Hence, it is essential to understand what are the requirements, starting from the type of website you are going to develop.
How many disk space? How many bandwidth? Number of email accounts? Databases? ... And so on...
Then I suggest you to find recent user reviews on forum, where you can find honest reviews and also expert people. Usually blog posts are affiliate posts, so it is better to don't base your choice on it.
Then try to ask some pre-sale questions, try to test the speed of other sites reside on the same provider and start paying monthly (is more secure at the beginning, it is easier to change hosting in case of problems).
You can find other tips on this web hosting guide for beginners www.sharedwebhostingcomparison.com/web-hosting-guide-beginners/ , it is useful to avoid the most common mistakes and to save money!