Do you really need to pay a monthly fee just for hosting and an annual fee for your domain name? It doesn’t seem worth it when you’re talking about a small website, does it? You can actually do all this on your own, you just need to know how.

The first thing you need to do is choose a good domain name. It should be one that reflects your business yet be short enough to remember easily. Try not to go over 22 characters when creating it. Afterward, register your name. There are still companies that charge you less than $20 to do so; you can find them with just a bit of research.

Opt for a long-term registration period, like one or two years. Be sure to check the option that automatically renews your registration and charges your credit card for the service. If you forget to renew, you’ll lose your website.

After you’re registered and your account is set up, you need to look for a cheap web host. There are those guerrilla web hosting companies that charge just over $2 a month for hosting. Read the fine print carefully before you sign a contract, though! You may find that you can pay just a little more for a company that can guarantee your upload speed.

One thing that should be pointed out is that the services offered here are the barest minimum and are not flexible on most points. Check to see that you’re getting the basics that you need, like e-mail forwarding to your own account.

When you’re satisfied with your choice of web host, simply sign up for their services. You need to give in your domain name, in which case they will give you their nameservers (make sure that there are at least two of these) and the FTP login information. These names should be entered on the nameservers tab of your domain.

All you need to do now is create your own website using an HTML Editor. There are many free programs that can help you do this on the net. Some of them even provide your background and allow you to edit how your information will be presented.

Upload the site to the internet and you’re finished.