You need the services of a web hosting provider to be able to put your already designed web pages on the internet. There are a lot of web hosting companies on the internet ranging from the ones offering free hosting services to those top ranking companies that charge quite a lot of money. You could even decide to host your site yourself. Whatever option you chose would obviously be determined by your budget, your web hosting experience, and whether you want to spend time maintaining the server.

Internet Service Providers or ISP are needed to be able to access the internet. Most ISP providers usually include a limited space for hosting web pages free. This option of web hosting would be fitting for those with small sites, or sites with low amount of traffic. They could also be used to test run company sites but should rather not be the hosting option of choice for sites expecting a lot of traffic or an important business site. You might also have to choose between servers such as Linux, windows or apache.

There are a lot of offers for free web hosting services on the internet. Some even offer and support useful packages and advanced services such as shell access, CGI, PHP, SSI and others. Free hosting is supported by advertisements; so you can expect to have advertisement included on your website. This makes the free hosting option suitable for personal web pages or very small scale business. The advertisement does not make it suitable for serious business sites such as ecommerce sites.

With paid hosting you have to pay for space provided for by the hosting company as well as for other services enjoyed on his hosting site and platform.

The monthly charges could range between $1 or $2 to hundreds based on the circumstances. Type of services provided include database management support, CGI access, ASP, SSL, large storage, extra bandwidth, ecommerce compatible support, email facilities and the likes. The number of such services required and enjoyed would define the price billed. Paid hosting is best for internet based businesses. You should take time to understand the available options and the individual features a hosting provider is offering.

Domain hosting involves payment to have the domain registered and secured.

You can then take your web pages and host them on any web hosting platform you decide. You can even use free web hosting or your ISP. You still will be able to launch your site on the internet with your own URL. Domain name hosting also refers to URL redirection. This option is ideal for small business with limited funds.
Colacation hooks your web site server with larger company. You can enjoy their fast high speed connection. It comes in unmanaged and managed formats and is ideal for small and medium scale business requiring a little more control over hosting of their web pages.

Direct hosting means you host the site yourself. You have to have a computer enabled to act as a web server, the required software and a fast connection to the internet along with a dedicated IP. Hosting your own site gives you full control over the web server. This suits companies with large sensitive data or who desire to control their own web server.