When searching for a web hosting company, one should consider these web hosting tips:

1. Does the web hosting company offer a control panel?

The control panel is the main tool you will be using to manage your websites. From your access, databases to email configuration. Make sure they offer a web hosting control panel and that the interface is easy to use.

2. How long has the web hosting company been a provider?

You must make sure you choose a web hosting company that has been offerring it's services for a long time, you don't want to be one of the first customers.

3. Evaluate the customer service before choosing your website hosting company

I usually send an email to the customer service and check how long it takes to get an answer. If they respond quickly, I then call the customer service and evaluate how long it takes to answer my call and the quality of the information they give me.

4. Does the web hosting company offer a website statistics software?

You should be able to consult your websites statistics at anytime, and in realtime. Make sure the software offered is nice and easy to understand.

5. What is their frequency of backups, what is the restore procedure?

It is very important to have regular backups of your code and databases, and find out what happens when a restore is necessary.

6. Check out exceding bandwidth charges

If your planning on getting a lot of visitors on your web sites, make sure the charges for exceeding bandwidth are not too high.

7. Validate the kind of access you get

You might want to be able to connect via SSH, and of course your FTP or SFTP accesses.

8. Last but not least, make sure your web hosting company offer at least a 99.9% uptime

It's not always easy to find out if the web host really offers 99.9% uptime, but you should try to find out by searching the web if people had problems with this al so important aspect!