The fact that you are reading this online article shows that you are, to some degree, familiar with the Internet and web sites. The Internet is a confusing amalgamation of computers, routers, communications lines, and specialized software that somehow comes together to show you the web site that you are viewing right now.

People, businesses, and even pets are getting their own web sites. But how does it all work?

A web site is essentially a collection of files, programs and images that make up a web page. Once a person directs their browser to the proper address, this information is transferred over the web and they are now 'visiting' your site.

Web hosting sites are used to contain this information. A web hosting site is simply a computer, called a web server, with a known address on the Internet. By using web hosting software, such as the Linux based Apache package, this server can 'dish out' web pages requested by an individual's browser.

Each web hosting site has it's own way of distinguishing itself from the competition.

Free web hosting services are available from companies like Yahoo, AOL and Google. These web hosting sites provide tools to create fairly sophisticated personal web pages, but usually require that you allow ads to be displayed on your site to cover the web hosting costs.

Since computer storage is cheap, and many web server applications are free, pay as you go web hosting sites are often very affordable. The choice is then based on available services and reliability.

Select a web hosting site from a company who has been around for a while. Current technology makes it possible for anyone with a computer and an Internet connection to be a web hosting site. But that doesn't guarantee that they will still be there in a year or two.

Check their service guarantee. Do they provide free, regular backups? How much traffic can they support on a daily basis?

Is Email and Domain Registration included in the price?

Some of the more full service sites provide web development services along with their hosting plans. While this can be pricey, it does allow you to put up a professional level site even if you are not a web developer yourself.

If you or third party are going to handle the web development, check the software services provided. Do they have a good mechanism for transferring updated files to the server? Do they have content management software available to help manage your pages?

Many business need additional programming power to handle things like credit card verifications, shopping carts, and product and information lookup. These can be handled with special server side software packages, which must be supported by your web hosting site. Popular platforms for server packages include PHP, ASC and Java.

If your needs don't require custom client/server applications, but you still need something beyond a few static web pages, many web hosting sites offer scalable solutions.

DRUPAL is an open source content management system that will allow you to create very sophisticated multi page web sites which are easy to keep up to date. DRUPAL has modules for blogs, bulleting boards, user login and security, and easy uploading of content.