How do you create your own website???

Take a peek at this older thread:

Is there a way to create a website for free..for folks to find my book?
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127424

-Derek

google also has free web sites.

If you want something easy but dont mind paying under 10$ a month. Godaddy has a good program too with easy and professional looking templates.

GoDaddy (as mentioned) offers a free blog tool with a domain name/hosting package, which is customizable. You just have to accept that there will be a little bit of GoDaddy advertising on the blog pages, and agree that you won't go more than about 90 days without updating it. I find the advertising to be minimal and unobtrusive.

I'd recommend heavily against GoDaddy: the K-Mart of domains. Also, anybody will tell you that it's not a good idea to host a domain with the same people you register it with. (Especially those people, I would add).

I'll save you a lot of trouble, time and money. There is probably no reason for you to hook up a domain and design a site. You can get a free wordpress blog. The address is very simple and acceptable: yourname.wordpress.com (most people who have blogs on their own domain-hosted sites end up with most traffice to a blog called something yourname.com/wordpress)
You can do a lot with a wordpress blog. Clever use of "pages" and customizing the skins, using the blogrolls and other widgets well, can produce a web presence very similar to a full site (which is what? Your bio, your work, and a blog, right?

AND you don't have to know jack to do it, can just step in and start publishing. If you want to fool with it to suit your vision, there is a bit of a learning curve, but the support and tutorial and outside support for WP is amazing...and a LOT less work than setting up a whole site.

If you feel you just have to have your own domain, great. Your best bet is renting a domain, then renting space for it, then installing Wordpress on it.

Or if you do go with the Wordpress idea, which is probably your best best (because you do not need to pay to host it or update the software) you can just buy a domain name a redirect it provided that free domain name forwarding is included... This means you use the wordpress account to get the site yoursite.wordpress.com, and you can redirect your domain name yourdomain.com to the wordpress site. So when someone types yourdomain.com it just points to yoursite.wordpress.com.

Doing it this way, you'll have your own domain name, and a place to publish all for about $9.00 a year (the cost of the domain name registration).

Example of domain name redirection: liexchange.com simply points to ----> longislandexchange.com

Moonfruit websites are totally free (or you can pay for more intricate stuff).
www.moonfruit.com
Check out my website that I built using moonfruit and I didn't pay a penny:
www.jeanettehewitt.com

GraysonMoran said:

Also, anybody will tell you that it's not a good idea to host a domain with the same people you register it with. (Especially those people, I would add).

Click to expand...

How come, GraysonMoran? I have a domain and a wesite with different providers, but it's just chance that it worked out that way. I've often thought it would be simpler if I were using the same people for both.

What if those people go out of business? Or start getting evil? What do you do then?
If a host goes out or gets weird (and it happens) you can relocate your domain.
If your domain registrar gets hinky, it's a lot more trouble, but at least you can still work with your files and not just lose your entire site.
I think you'll find this advice is pretty common with professional webmosters and designers. (Which I am definitely not)

By the way, there is one worry about free sites. If you get in any sort of trouble-- someobdy comments about somebody in your blog and they threaten to sue, for instance--you have NO relationship with your provider. There is no money changing hands, no legal responsibility to you. So they will often look at a threatening legal letter and just pull your plug.
Not a very common problem, perhaps, but if happens. I know a guy (and he met several others during his travail) who had his site yanked from Bravenet simply because he had material that offended some Christian groups and Bravenet is very Christian outfit themselves.

GraysonMoran said:

What if those people go out of business? Or start getting evil? What do you do then?
If a host goes out or gets weird (and it happens) you can relocate your domain.
If your domain registrar gets hinky, it's a lot more trouble, but at least you can still work with your files and not just lose your entire site.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I see what you mean. Did something right by accident, I guess.

Well, here I am wishing I didn't use the same host at the same place I registered my domain. I already paid up for a year, though-I can't exactly move it around now.

You'll priobably be okay. I'm a worst-case scenario buff.

Yeah, BlueHost has been pretty good to me so far. I had a PHP problem which got me some quick assistance, so I haven't had a reason to complain yet.

Ah, you're on BlueHost? No worries, then. Great outfit. Thing is, they are a hosting outfit who knows how to do it and have decided, apparently to handle registry as well. As opposed to registry hotdogs like GoDaddy who branched out (or more likely farmed out...or even more likely off-shored) hosting as a sideline.
BlueHost also has all sorts of installed software, don't they? I know a couple of writers who are on them using blog software and such.

Oh, yeah, loads of installed software. That's how I was able to easily set up WordPress.

I've been using Bluehost for over 3 years, and I'm very happy with their service overall.