5 Things To Look For In A Web Hosting Company

1. Support. Look for a hosting company that provides 24 hour technical support. In addition, do your research and see what current customers are saying about the company's support. For example, if you do your research and find that the company's customer support is slow and ineffective, you might be dissuaded from utilizing that company's services.
2. Reliable. Look for a company that is reliable. One of the main factors that should go into your decision making process is to consider a hosting company's uptime. Generally a company's uptime should be at minimum 98%. For example, Dreamhost - one of the top hosting companies in the U.S. has an uptime of 99.97% for 2007.
3. Features. Look for a company that has built in features such as web scripts, unlimited sub domains, mysql databases, etc. Furthermore, these features should be accessible from a control panel or some type of centralized location. It is important to note that these features often cut down on the amount of time it takes to perform certain tasks. For example, using my control panel within Dreamhost, I have the option of using a one-click install feature, a feature that allows me to install applications within a matter of minutes.
4. Prices. Look for a company with reasonably priced hosting plans and packages. Fortunately, prices for basic web hosting remain low; do in part to the amount of companies offering hosting services. For example, there are thousands of web hosting companies out there, that help drive the average cost for a basic web hosting plan to approximately $4 a month.
5. User friendly and Easy to use. Look for companies with easy to use and user friendly control panels. The control panel is the mechanism or tool that allows you to manage all of the items offered within your package in one centralized location.