A good reputation for both customer service and products is hard to beat. Look for signs of the company beyond its own site in industry magazines, meetings, and associations. Check out the Better Business Bureau both the one for the company s physical location and the online version. If the company is on the other side of the world, getting an application engineer to visit might be a problem. An office in your region is not a guarantee of support, but it is a good sign.
Many businesses stake their years in operation as an indication of their reliability.
A well-organized website is a good indicator that the supplier is prepared to fulfill customer requests received through the site. The site should offer technical content, easy navigation, and signs of active management including ease of making contact with the appropriate people inside the company. The site should answer typical questions about the products. It should contain at least as much information as a paper catalog. Ease of navigation.