With so many different web hosting companies out there today, it can be a little difficult to know which company you should work with. If you are looking to get your company on the internet, you will need a good hosting company to host your website. Here are 7 essential features which you should look for in a web hosting company: Website builder Your website company needs to provide you with the proper tools to create a good website irrespective of whether you are a beginner or an HTML guru. Before settling on a host, ensure they are offering a website builder too. This website builder should be able to help you build a basic webpage as well as a complex website with multiple pages. Control panel You are going to be very busy while running your business. You shouldn't have to waste too many times trying to figure out a confusing interface. The best web hosts will have a well-integrated control panel which serves all of the administrative options in one location. It should allow you to control everything related to your website and locate features and logs easily. Features need to be grouped into categories which makes it easier to find what you require. Site statistics The hosting company needs to feature statistical tools which you can use to track the performance and status of your website at any time. Most services offer stats, but some ask you to pay more before you can access this information. Shopping carts If you are selling products on your website, make sure if offers suitable e-commerce tools. Certain hosts offer integrated shopping carts and others let you to use other programs like PayPal, ZenCart, CubeCart, etc. It's always better to have a few options so that you can find the one which suits your business the best. Advertising credits This is another great perk which many top web hosting companies offer. Thy will help you advertise your business without having to spend more money on advertising. You will be able to use these credits to place ads on various search engines like Yahoo and Google. Some hosts even provide recurring credits which is a terrific incentive to sign up with them. Unlimited mailboxes Owning web domains means creating professional email addresses too. But some hosts limit the amount of email ID's which you can create. Good services will let you create unlimited email ID's. This feature is very important if you wish to create an email ID for every employee. Some hosts may even offer built in email tools. 24x7 tech support Whenever you face technical difficulties, you are going to require help. A good web hosting provider will offer tech support 24x7 so you could get your website up and running quickly in case anything goes wrong. Check to see if the hosting company you want use offers round-the-clock support. A quick and efficient resolution to your problems is also essential. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9358926