Once you have your website built, you will need to find a company to host it. If you are unfamiliar with hosting, think of it in terms of a home. You have a home where you live and your website needs a home where it can live. Often times this home is called a server. A server is just a computer that makes web pages available on the Internet.

You can host your website either internally or externally. Internal hosting means that you

house the server at your location. External hosting is when you share space for your server or space on the same server with other companies. Internal hosting is typically more expensive. This option not only requires your own server, but also the equipment necessary for high speed Internet access. You may also need to hire someone to maintain this equipment as well. External hosting is typically easier to set up and more economical. Many ISPs offer hosting as one of their services to their clients; however it's not necessary to use your ISP. Considerations for deciding upon a hosting service include:

• support for the software you are using to design your website,
• web space, the amount of storage needed to hold your web pages, and
• bandwidth, which is comprised of speed and the amount of data you can transmit on a monthly basis.