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There is no doubt there is a plethora of UK based sites offering some exceptional mobile phone deals. But how do you decide which is the best deal for you, particularly if you are short of time to search the web?

First, decide whether you want a contract or PAYG phone. If the latter, your options are much more limited, so here, we will only consider contract options.

Second, decide which type of deal you require. Are you looking for a 12-month contract or longer? Are you looking for free gifts such as an Ipod or a small lcd television? The freebies have certainly improved over the last few years as the competitiveness of the market has increased, but logic suggests the better gifts come with the more expensive or longer contracts, or with the cheaper rather than the more expensive phones. This may, or may not be the case, but it certainly pays to do your homework!

Third, if you are not basing your decision on the type of phone you require make yourself a short-list of two or three phones. This will cut your search time down if you already know roughly what you want.

Of course you may already have such things as an Ipod or maybe you are more cash-driven, so what deal can benefit you the most? The answer is to watch for the free cash deals. By this, it is meant the deals whereby you can get a free mobile phone, but instead of a physical gift, you get part or full refunds on the line rental, calls and texts. These deals in themselves differ from ' price line rental for a period of months, to full price free line rental for the duration of the contract and the latter often include free calls and texts as well. The downside is that the phones are often not the very newest, typically having been released around 6-months previously.

How does the free phone, line rental and calls deal work? Firstly, know how many minutes you spend on the phone on average during a month and how many texts you send. This is important, as for the maximum benefit, you need to match your usage to the tariff, if you don't, you'll be penalised by the extra high cost per minute of going over your pre-paid time for which you will not be reimbursed. However, stay within your 'free' minutes and texts and your phone, line rental, calls and texts will be free for the 12 months, in the occasional deal, this may be for 18 months (have only seen this on an Orange deal).

The most important caveat in these deals is to realise that you do have to pay the monthly tariffs first and then claim the cash back usually in 4 or 5 stages over the period of the contract. Also, some companies will charge extra for itemised billing which you may have to take. In addition, watch out for mobile phone insurances, often obligatory in the free deals and free for between one and three months. If you don't want this, it is up to you to remember to cancel it or you will charged automatically. It is worth checking your home contents insurance as these often cover loss or damage to the phone itself but not for unauthorised usage.

Finally, find a site that has already done a lot of the footwork in finding the ideal mobile phone deal for you. Good luck with finding your deal!