Before you sign up with a hosting company, you should know some important things.

1 You should select the right type of hosting for your web site. There are several types of hosting: shared hosting, virtual private server and dedicated hosting.
Shared hosting is cheap, but a Web site is placed on the same server as many other sites, ranging from a few to hundreds or thousands. If the host manage it well, all web sites on the same server can run smoothly. If the host does not manage it well, you web site may become slow or unavailable because other web site has problem. If your web site consume too much resources(such as CPU or RAM) to hurt other web sites, you web site may be suspended by your host, or you may asked to upgrade your hosting plan.

Dedicated hosting is expensive, your web site get all resources of the server.

Virtual Private Server is between shared hosting and dedicated hosting concerning price and resources usage.

2 How long has the Web host been in business? Choose from hosts that have been in business for at least 2 years.

3 You get for what you pay for. If you web site is not important, it's ok to choose the cheapest hosting. If your web site is important, you should try to find the reasonable price.

4 How about the host's support? You can test it by asking them some questions through live chat, e-mail, phone.

5 Are there any hidden fees? Read the TOS carefully before you sign up with the host.

6 Are the features of the hosting meet all your needs? Different hosts may offer different features.