Building Your Own Website -- Some Tips For The Absolute Beginner

By Kirk Kinbote

Let's assume that you want to start your own website, but don't know the first thing about web-design. You're a crack websurfer, and you want to take things up a notch by creating your own site. You're thinking: If the pornographers can do it, why can't I?

The answer is that you can, if you're willing to put in a bit of hard work. Six months ago I was in the same position as you. About a month later I had my own site up and running. How did I do it?

The process of getting a website online involves four basic steps. (Bear in mind that I'm offering this information to those who are, as I was, complete novices in the field. Experienced webmasters will find this stuff laughably basic.)

1. Creating an offline or test version of your site on your home computer. This is the most complicated part of the whole process, because it will require you to master the basics of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). This is the special code that web pages are written in. If you don't compose your pages in proper HTML format, web browsers won't be able to decode and display them correctly, and your stuff will come out looking like a dog's breakfast (or won't come out at all). I'll try to outline the basics of HTML after I've finished outlining the 4 basic steps.

2. Getting yourself a "domain name" (e.g. www.bob'shomepage.com) that will serve as your site's home address. Sometimes your own internet provider will offer you a limited amount of free web space to "host" a page or two of your own content (see step 3) along with a ready-made (and non-negotiable) domain name. This will generally be one of those long and unattractive and unmemorable domain names full of slashes and weird little squiggles. If -- like Bob, or for that matter like me -- you want to choose your own domain name, you'll have to pay for it. You'll need to go to a domain name registration site (e.g. Register.com) and check whether your desired name is available. If it is, you'll then have to register it and pay an annual fee (something like US $30) to retain ownership of it.

3. Finding a web host. As I said above, some internet providers will offer you a certain amount of free space to "host" your web pages. This is a fine option for some people. But if you're looking for a lot of web space, or if you want to select your own domain name rather than be stuck with the one issued by your provider, you'll need to seek out a specialized web host. Again this will cost you, although not much. Mine costs around US $3 a month. Just punch "web hosts" into your search engine and shop around. Some hosts will host your site for free, if you're willing to place an ad or two on your pages in return.

4. Uploading your offline files onto the server of your web host.

As I said, number 1 is by far the most time-consuming of these steps. The other three steps will only take you about a day. It's learning to compose your web pages in the correct HTML format that really takes the hard work. But my feeling is if you're motivated enough, you'll have no trouble mastering the basics.