I'm Here. Now What?

Most people know the web only as consumers; browsing through various websites without really understanding what's involved in putting those sites together. It can seem quite daunting to be suddenly put in the position of becoming a web publisher with your own web site. It's really not that hard, most of the technical drudge work is done for you so you just have to fill in the creative part and the content. Here's an overview for the uninitiated :

1. The first thing you need to do, if it hasn't been done already, is to choose and register a domain name. A domain name is the name of your web site, the "example.com" in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) http://example.com/examplecontent.html . Generally speaking, these names are registered by registrars and coordinated by a central registry organization. If the domain name is available, you can register it and pay a yearly fee to maintain the registration. If you liken the domain name to real estate, then the registration fee is like property tax. Choose a name that is memorable, and that best reflects the purpose of the web site. If it's a commercial website for Mitch's Fish Bits Inc., mitchsfishbits.com might be a good choice, though if you have thoughts of someday penetrating the lucrative national or international fish bit markets the more generic fishbits.com might be better. Generic domain names are hard to come by these days, so if you can get one, grab it.
2. Once you have a domain name, you need to decide on how you are going to host your site. That is, where and how are the pages and images that make up your site going to be stored, and how will they be served up to people looking for you on the web? There are many choices provided on this and other sites for hosting, from the smallest hosting package to dedicated and co-located servers, from website-in-a-box packages to building your own server environment from the ground up.
   
3. If you have ever given a presentation to an audience, then you have a good start on building your web site. Regardless of what sort of website you are building, by building it you are stating a position or advancing an argument, whether it's "Buy our product" or "Look at my grandkids! Aren't they gorgeous?" . Carefully consider the purpose of each page and choose what links are appropriate. Remember that your audience always has two options, leave your site completely, or follow a path that you have laid out within your site.