Website Creation Options

There is never one hosting option that's best for every website.  Some of you may just want a small "About Me" personal website, others may want a larger, more interactive website for personal or business reasons. 

Be sure you've made up your mind about the type of site you want to build because it has a great impact on the type of host you need.

Most web hosts don't help you with the pre-planning process.  They just want you to sign up so they can host your site and collect your money.  I created this page so you don't jump into the process too fast and make the wrong decisions.

"What is a web host?"

A web host is the backbone of any website and no site can exist without one.  They are responsible for providing you with the space for building your web pages, setting up your email accounts (if any), giving you the option of setting up additional functionality for your site (message boards, shopping carts, games, feedback forms), etc.

Important: Not all web hosts allow you to add additional functionality and other interactive features, so that's why it's important that you read this page in its entirety.  

You don't want to start building your website and then discover you can't accomplish what you want with the host you've chosen.

Google Can Help Pay For Your Website

As long as you don't use a free web host, you can get accepted into Google's free Adsense program and earn money with your site by displaying their text ads. 

So if paying for a website seems ridiculous or out of the question for you, you may want to reconsider when you find out how lucrative this simple program can be. Read more about Adsense here.

Choosing The Best Web Hosting Option

This is the important part.  Please make sure you read these next sections carefully.  They type of site you plan to create will impact the type of host you should select.

Don't forget before you can launch a website you must register a domain name (yoursite.com) and then you select your web host as described below.

1) A Personal / Fun Website

This is a favorite option for beginners.  All you do is point and click to select your design, then type your text and add your pictures.

The Website Tonight packages keep getting better and they lowered the price.  At first these plans were great for very simplistic websites (text and a few pictures) but now you can add a message board, video, Flash intros and a ton of cool stuff! 

The entire process is browser based so there is no software to install.  You simply choose the best package for your site and within minutes you can start building your pages.

Don't forget that you'll still need to register a domain name (YourSite.com) first and then sign up with WST afterwards to begin building your site.

2) A Personal or Business Site With Script Capability

What are scripts?  These are programs that allow you to add functionality like chat rooms, games, message boards, shopping carts and other features that make your site more interactive.

Most people fall into this category because they want to have the option of adding interactive functions even if they don't plan to in the very beginning.

If you choose this kind of host you'll either have to own some kind of web page building software (Microsoft FrontPage or my free editor), use the web host's building tools or learn how to code your own HTML. 

If you own Microsoft FrontPage for example, you'll be able to create and save your pages right to the web directly through the software. That's what I did to create this site. 

I'm not big on designing and programming so I found a "FrontPage compatible" template on the web that had all the graphics and layout ready to go.  I simply used the software to load the template and maintain/edit the pages.

I know how to write HTML from scratch, but I just found it quicker to use an editor.

So if this sounds like something you want to do, always make sure the host you choose supports "Microsoft FrontPage extensions".   Almost all of them do nowadays.  Also, don't forget to get a copy of FrontPage.

The nice thing about using this method is that you don't have to learn HTML.  FrontPage has an interface very similar to Microsoft Word so editing text and adding pictures is quite simple, especially if you're familiar with working in Word.