You want to start your own website but don't want pay a heap of money for it. To make matters a bit more complicated, you have no idea how to get started. I was in the same spot about 6 months ago. After a month of learning and searching I managed to put out my first website for less than $10. Read on as I share with you how you can do the same.

To build a website you must first have a domain name. A domain name is the address at which the website can be found for example - www.yourname.com. Your domain name can be anything you choose provided that it has not already been registered by someone else first.

There are many different things to consider when choosing a domain. You will want to choose a name that will be easily remembered, and is easily typed. You will also want to consider which suffix to use. A suffix is the ".com" part of the URL. You may choose from .com (most popular), .net, .org (most common for non-profits), .info (great for wiki pages), .tv, .me, .mobi, etc. You can also choose a country specific suffix such as .uk, .ne, .tk, .to, .cn, .ca, .it, .de, etc. Prices may differ based upon the suffix that you choose with .tv being the most expensive (up to $500 per year) and .info being the least expensive (as low as $1.99 per year).

There are many places to buy domains online. The most popular place to buy a domain is at www.godaddy.com. Domains are usually billed on a yearly basis, therefore GoDaddy.com charges $9.99/year per .com domain name $9.99 is not a half bad price, but you can find them for less. I purchase my domains from www.lovingdomains.com and from eBay. LovingDomains charges $7.19/year for .com domain names. You can find a domain for sale on eBay from 1cent to $2million. Purchasing a domain on eBay is different than registereing a domain at a place such as GoDaddy. Generally you will buy a domain from a fellow eBayer and they will transfer the domain to you from whereever they chose to register the domain.

After you buy a domain you must find a place to host your website. Hosting is where your website files, data, and information are stored. If you own your own server, you will not have to buy hosting. Due to the high cost of servers, many individuals choose to buy hosting.

A google search for website hosting will turn up too many results to even try to sift through. Hosting plans can cost anything from Free to $149 per month. Prices are based on how much bandwidth, disk space, and "extras". For individual websites you can get away with hosting that will cost you from Free to $2.95 per month. I use free hosting at www.000webhost.com. They give 350mb of disk space and 10gb of bandwidth for free. I know that in all likliness my sites will not exceed 1,000s of hits per day so this free hosting works great for me right now.

Once you have a domain and a host all figured out you will need a template or script to make your site usable. There are many of amazing free options out there.

You can make your site a blog by installing blogger, wordpress, or typepad software. You can turn your site into a store by using free a free e-commerce script. The possibilities here are virtually endless. If you would prefer not to bother with setting up the site yourself, there is always the option of hiring a firm or a freelancer to do so for you. This can cost you anywhere from $300 to $30,000 depending on what your needs are.

You have the knowledge now! Go ahead and make it happen. A domain for $5.50 from eBay, Free Hosting and a Free Script got my first website up and running! At this price, you can't afford not to get a website up and running!