This was a question asked of me by a friend recently. I realized I needed to start at the beginning, but was having a hard time deciding where the beginning was. So I decided to take my time to outline it below, in case anyone else is wondering.
1. Know why you want a website. Some people want one just for the sake of having one, because everyone else is doing it. This is the wrong approach. Every site should have a focus.
2. Choose a domain name and hosting. Your website will need a name and a place to live on the internet. Most hosting companies will let you register for a domain name while signing up for hosting. A few good hosting companies are Bluehost and Hostgator. They will give you lots of server space for you to store the files that make up your website, and plenty of bandwidth for people to visit your site.
3. Design your site. At this point, you may need someone to help. There are hundreds of do-it-yourself pieces of software that are easy to use if you want to try out web design for yourself. Some people will enjoy this, while others will find it frustrating and want help from an experienced designer.
4. Upload files to your server. When you are happy with your site design, you’ll need to upload all of your files to the server space you purchased through the hosting company. Most companies provide a basic FTP service to make this easy.
These are very simple instructions, but should give you a starting point on how to start your own site. Of course, there are many other ways to accomplish the same goal and you should do what works best for you. An even simpler solution is a self-hosted site. Examples would be wordpress.com, webs.com, Yahoo site builder, etc. These don’t offer as much control over your site design, but far easier to use. You only need to sign up for the service and follow the steps they provide.
