Web hosting companies specialize in renting out space for people who need it. While some Internet Access Service Providers (ISP’s) offer very good hosting services, Web Hosting Companies can be a better option.

This is because of the traffic they have to deal with. An ISP has to cater for people who want to get to the Internet and with traffic from the Internet by people who want to see pages hosted by the ISP.

A web hosting company only has to deal with traffic from the Internet. In an ideal world your website should come up faster when a visitor calls it - especially during busy times - although of course this does depend on the company you are dealing with. Some will have no problems dealing with access in both directions - while some smaller hosting companies may not even have enough capacity to deal with traffic in only one direction. However keep in mind that by using the same provider for Hosting and Internet access may be like putting two eggs into the same basket. If you can get cheaper access elsewhere, you may not be able to switch your provider, as your hosting account may be linked to your access account - making switching much more difficult.

If you are connected to the Internet, using a web hosting company such as santu.com is easy. You can find a large number of Hosting Service Providers on the Internet simply by searching for them in a Search Engine. If possible, use one which has been recommended to you. Ideally your hosting service provider should allow you to use your own Domain Name (Internet address) and should provide you with the ability to execute PHP programs, as PHP programs can extend the functionality of your website.

When signing up with a hosting company, you will receive a special address to which to publish your web site. Shopping cart software such as ShopFactory can do this automatically, once you have entered this address and your username and password in the software.

If you decide to host with your ISP, as it already provides you with some free space, reember to get your own Internet address. ISP’s usually charge extra for this, because they know using your own Internet address makes you independent of them. After all, as long as you use and promote the address the ISP has assigned to you and not your own, you are unlikely to switch to a competitor.