Step 1 - Choose a domain name & web host

One of the first things you'll want to do is to buy a domain name and pick a web host. The prices vary from host to host as well as the services. We'll offer you some suggestions to make it easier.

What exactly is a web host?

A web host is a place where you can store your website. For example, once you make your web pages today using our free tutorials and free software, then you need to take them from your computer and put them online. That's what web hosts offer, they allow you to a place to store your newly created web pages. That space is on their computers which are directly linked to the internet. In fact, they literally help make up the internet.

Think of web hosting as something like a storage facility. You rent a private space, either monthly or yearly, and you can store your web pages there. You can always go into your private space and add, remove or change your web pages at anytime. But other's can't, because...

Once you pay for storage space rental, your web host assigns you a user name and password so that only you can add or remove pages. But...everyone on the web will still be able to come visit and see your web pages, if you want them to, they just can't change them, thankfully.

At the same time you get the hosting, you should also get the domain name. The domain name is your web site name, like www.designyourownweb.com. That tells everyone where we can be found at on the web. It's a unique address.

Ok, so what you'll need to get started is to choose a web host and a domain name. Here's some suggestions:

Picking your domain name...

There are now over a billion websites out there, literally. So, the web is an enormous ever growing place, which can make choosing an effective domain name both necessary and a challenge. Most of the simple names are already taken. And in different variations. But, it's still possible to find great domain names with just a little searching.

Before picking your own domain name, here are some tips to help you brainstorm:

Try to go with .com whenever possible. There other variations that will work just fine (but people have gotten use to .com). Other extensions are .net, .us, .org, .ws, etc.
Try to use keywords in your domain name - Keywords are the words people type into search engines to find what they are looking for. If you are building your own 'golden retriever' web site, then 'golden retriever' should be in your domain name. For example, www.goldenretrieverdogtoys.com.
Keeping it short and simple - If possible the shorter the better. Particularly if people are actually typing it from offline instead of clicking on it. If it's entirely accessed from online, then it really doesn't matter.
To dash or not to dash - If you really like a domain name and it's not available, try the same domain name with dashes. For example, www.goldenretriever-dogtoys.com, or some variation on that theme, www.golden-retriever-dogtoys.com, etc. Some people don't like dashes, but one or two is probably ok.

NEWS UPDATE!! - June 2008. I now just recommend one web host. I have tried TONS of other ones. But the one that I found to be the EASIEST to use and the most flexible has been BlueHost . I just started yet another site with them and they are so much better than everyone else I have tried. Honestly, I wish I had all my sites with them.

Starting at only only $6.95 per month plus a FREE domain name and FREE SETUP, Bluehost is a great deal. It's perfect for beginners or advanced users.

They offer some extra nice features, like cpanel, CRON jobs and Fantastico. You can have multiple websites on one account. And you can easily set up a WordPress blog, Shopping Cart, Web email, MySQL Databases, and more at the click of a button.

Plus they have great tech support too. Everything you truly need to have a great website.

Can you tell I'm a fan? That's because I have used many others over the years and I have something to compare it to.

Recently, I couldn't get a script to work, so I emailed bluehost, 3 minutes later they emailed back and said "No problem, we'll take care of it.".

5 minutes later, I get another email from BlueHost "Ok, it's all fixed. Anything else?". Other web hosts have not delivered even close to that level of support. In short, bluehost rocks!

So, when you're ready, click on the green banner below to get started on your own web adventure.

Ease of Use and Great support makes BlueHost easily
our TOP choice of 2008!

Please note: Once you have a web host, then you'll need a web page editor to start making your site...that's coming up next! Just keep in mind, you need a webhost first, before you can have a accessible website.

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Getting Started

Step 2- Web Page Editors