Let's talk what it will cost upfront. For $10 - $20/month you can have a working website (Imagine: yourname.com), available to anyone in the world with internet access. That's a trip to your favourite fast food joint. (Yes, you can afford it!) There are also some ways of getting a free site ? still residing at yourname.com, but lets learn about all those weird internet terms first.

There are 3 basic components required to building a personal, custom website.
You need:
- A domain name
-A hosting account and
-Content written in HTML or some other web language.
I know, what's a domain name!!!?

Here is an analogy I teach:

You live in a home that is built on a certain piece of land (that you rent or buy). That piece of land has a specific address.

Your website (a collection of individual web pages) sits on a hosting account that you rent. That hosting account is found at a specific address ? called a domain name.

Your HomeYour Website
Your Street Address: e.g. 1 John St, Anytown
Your domain name: e.g. yourname.com
Your plot of landYour hosting account
Your physical houseYour web content

Here is the 3 step process:
STEP 1: Choose your address
STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet
STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2

Let's explain each step:
STEP 1: Choose your address (a domain name)
With the internet you can choose what you want your address to be (your domain name). What are you selling? What would make a cool name? Understand that after over 10 years of public internet access ? a lot of good names have been taken. So get creative, and be unique but understandable. An easy place to start with is your full name for a family/personal site or your product name for a business site. Make a list of about 10 possibilities that you like in this format yourdesiredname.com Move to the next step.

STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet (A hosting account)
With a quick search for the words ?Web Hosting? on the internet, you get a list of web hosting companies ? all eager to sell or rent you some space on their computer. GoDaddy.com and 1and1.com are some recommended companies ? feel free to look into others, but there are thousands upon thousands ? so don't waste your time searching for the cheapest (you pay for what you get, but $10+ will get you a decent hosting account.

Many of the hosting companies will either give you or sell you your choice of domain name at the same time you start your hosting account. Bring out your list from STEP 1, and when instructed in the purchase process, enter in your first domain name choice. You will be informed if that name is available or not. Keep trying out your names in order of your preference until you find on that is available. Finish the purchase process and let the hosting company instruct you on how to access you account. (They'll send you an email ? and if you go with one of the companies I recommended, you can call them with your questions.)

STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2
You have some choices to make here:
A - You can ask someone to build you a site.
B - You can build it yourself.
C - Use a free website builder ? (like a blog)
Each has its pros and cons.

The first option is great if you can afford it and can find someone reliable. If you want cheap, post a job at your local high school ? someone in computer club will be able to help you for really cheap. The problem is that they may not always be around when you need them to make changes. Enter choice B

It's great to learn a new skill, and you can learn for free online ? just invest a little time. Remember once you know how? you own that knowledge forever and you will never depend on someone else to build your site. Again search online for ?how to build a website? They will tell you how to design, build and upload your site onto your hosting account form STEP 2.

If you don't really require a customized design and all you want to do is place some text and perhaps some pictures online. I suggest starting what's called a blog - these are often free, and have a really simple ?HTML CODE FREE? way of adding your content. All you do is type and publish. You can often still have your own domain name here, but each blogging company is different. Again search online for blogging ? and read what the various companies offer.

Content
There is one thing that is really important and that ONLY you can do! That is come up with the content and the idea. Think about what you have to offer and what problem it solves for your visitors and prepare your content so as to answer that problem. E.g. You write great jokes. People are looking for jokes? your website should give people some jokes and perhaps they can register for your daily joke email.
Write simply, write short, write clearly. As time goes on, remember to keep your site fresh. Keep the content updated and relevant to your ideal visitors.

The goal of this article was to give you easy steps of how to get a website for yourself. Naturally you can learn more about each step, and there are many people who can give you help, but now you can start the journey. Create your list of domain names, purchase a hosting account (including the domain name you want) and build your site and keep the content fresh.

In future articles I'll take about next steps:
-?I build it, but they ain't coming to see it.?
-?I built it, but nobody's buying?
-?I built it, but I don't know how to improve it.?

A journey of a million miles starts with one step ? so go to step 1 and start. (Don't worry ? this is not a long journey ? but it's exciting!).