To create a Web site for your business, you need to find a place to store your files. One choice is to let your internet service provider (ISP) host your Web site — most ISPs provide some amount of server space as part of a standard dialup Internet access account. An advantage to this is that you won't have to pay extra for hosting services, although some ISPs can't provide the bandwidth or the reliability needed for a fully functional business site.

True Web hosting companies resemble ISPs in that they also provide servers connected to the Internet. But good Web hosts invest in more powerful servers and faster, more direct connections to the Internet. A Web hosting service is also likely to offer other features that you can't get from a regular ISP, such as special commerce servers that provide additional security for online transactions.

Factors to consider when you choose a Web host include:

Server space. Initially, 10MB of disk space on a server should be enough for a typical business site. If your site has lots of graphics or multimedia files, you may need much more room; many hosts offer 100MB or more of disk space at reasonable rates. Also, find out whether email, log files and other "overhead" files count against your space limit — once you exceed your disk quota, the hosting service will charge a penalty. It's always better to have too much space than too little.