What a web hosting company does, in basic terms, is creates a ?place? for your website to be stored and accessed by other people online. Why is this necessary? There a few concepts you must understand in order to grasp the importance and advantages of finding a great web hosting company.

The reason it is necessary to have a place online for your website to be stored and accessed is very simple. It is needed because your home computer and internet connection could not handle all of the traffic and processing it takes for a website to be up and running every day.

A web hosting company operates using special advanced server computers and internet connections that are faster and more reliable than what average consumers have access to. In order for a regular person to get this kind of setup, it would cost you hundreds and hundreds of dollars per month.

The reason a web hosting company can afford to have this advanced connection and hardware is because they have dozens and dozens of customers like you and a staff to maintain the equipment. They have set this up in order to help out the internet and make websites run smoothly.

So now that you know what a web hosting company is and why it is important, you need to know how to get started using one for your website. All you have to do is set up an account with a reliable web hosting company, upload your files (such as pictures, audio, video, etc.) and create your web pages. This can be done in a variety of programs, some easy to use, others intended for advanced web designers.

Instead of designing your own site you could hire the web hosting company or some other web designer to design your site. There are also ?freelance? websites that feature talented professionals waiting and willing to design your site beautifully for very competitive and affordable prices. (One can save a lot of money by going through a freelance web designer!)

Now that your site is designed, again, just upload it to the web hosting company using the step by step instructions included on the web hosting company's website. You'll also need a domain name, which is your ?dot com? or ?dot net? address, which the web hosting company can usually provide at least one of when you sign up for your hosting services.

You can expect to pay a very reasonable monthly fee for hosting (depending on how much space and data transfer you'll need). Alternatively, you may choose an annual contract, which will secure you a place for your site to ?live and breathe? for an entire year without any worries. Make sure you have checked out the web hosting company before you sign up for an annual agreement, though.

Finally, remember that web hosting companies usually have phone or email support and can walk you through all of your steps. Any steps that they cannot help you with, they can usually at least point you in the direction of how to get there and where to go in order to get what you need (such as web design, stock photography, fonts and more).

Enjoy your website building and remember: it's worth it!