Soooo, you're ready for your own site

A website is made up of TWO different pieces:

1. A Domain Name: This is the word that people can type to get to you. For example, "7hcode.com" is the domain name for this site. Think of it like a phone number, someone types it in and it somehow rings only your phone. Domain names are not bought permanently but rented for a year at a time from the government for around $10/year.
2. A Web Host: This is the physical computer sitting in a building somewhere in the world. You rent a part of it and then you upload your files to it. When a person types in your domain name then those files are retrieved from that server and sent to the browser of the person who wants to see your site.

Both of these things are required for a website. They can either be bought together from the same company or seperately. Buying them seperately is a little cheaper but more complicated to set up. There are thousands of web hosting companies out there and some are great and some are absolute trash. We're going to go through setting up a new site using a web host I trust and use for most of my new clients.

StableHost does a good job at giving you the tools you need to get going and doesn't charge very much. It's the web host that I used for Deer Creek PTC and many other sites as well.

• Go to their Website.
• Scroll down and click on "Web Hosting".
• Scroll down and click on "Sign Up Now" under "Starter".
• Here it gives you the option to make a new domain name OR use one you already have. To keep it simple, we're going to make a new one. I enter "tasteslikegrapesoda.com". You enter your own idea for a domain, not mine. Make sure that it only has letters and numbers and is short enough that people won't get bored typing it. If someone already has taken this domain then it will tell you and you'll have to find another domain.
• Click the "Buy" button next to the domain you want and adjust the dropdown on the right from 36 months to 12 months and it should say something like $42.
• Click the "Review Your Order" button.
• Remove "SSH Access" since you don't need it and click "Continue to Checkout".
• Create an account with your personal info, enter your payment info and complete your order.
• You should receive a "Welcome" email within a few minutes with instructions on how to log in and upload files to your new site.

Normally, the toughest part of this is finding just the right domain name. There are some tools to help you:

• namemesh.com: This is a site that gives variations of the one you're trying to get. Sometimes helpful.
• expireddomains.net: A big list of recently expired domains that are now available for you to get.