Making your own website can be a simple or utterly complex undertaking. There are several different ways to create a website depending on the amount of money you wish to spend, your level of expertise, time constraints, and complexity of your finished site. There are a few things that all websites require regardless of how they are created.

In order to have your own website you will need to register a unique domain name for your site. This is usually a fast and painless procedure costing $10-20/year. You will also need to pay to put your website on a superfast computer (web server) that is connected to the internet. Web hosting fees are also quite low averaging about $5/month from a reputable provider.

Rather than trying to lump everything into one article, I'll instead divide the information into four parts: (1) beginner, (2) elementary,(3) intermediate, and (4) advanced. Each level corresponds to your level of expertise in website design and development.

Part 1 - Website Creation for the Absolute Beginner:

If you know how to check your email and find something on Google, you can design your own website. If you are not particularly computer-savvy, your best solution for creating your own website is to use an online website creation tool. Online website builders are perfect for those who have never created a website before and have no programming experience. They allow you to work quickly, save on costs, and keep everything together in one place.

Simple online website builders are available for free that allow you to get started right away at no cost. Many webhosting companies (companies that you will have to pay in order to put your website online) provide a free website builder that you can use as often as you like. Keep in mind; you will still have to pay to register your domain name and to host your website.

Once you have signed up for a webhosting account (you can find thousands of companies by searching on Google) you can start using the free website builder. SiteStudio is one of the more popular website builders and has a selection of templates you can choose from. Using the template system, you can add your own text and pictures and customize the color, fonts, and layout of the template to suit your needs.

If you require a tool that is more complex and flexible, you can choose a complete website design, marketing and hosting solution. Site Build It (SBI) is a clear market leader in this area. You pay much more per month than you would using a free builder and a regular hosting account. But you get a powerful all-in-one business website solution.

A website creation solution for the beginner should be simple enough for you to use by yourself but powerful enough to accomplish your goals and satisfy your particular needs. If you feel that you have sufficient experience with web development or would like to try something a little more challenging, you can take a look at the next article in this series: How to Make your own Website (Elementary).