Three of the four steps are fairly quick, easy, and cheap. The one that is most likely to take your time and/or money is designing your site.

But more about that later.

Let's start by finding a web address (referred to as a domain) and getting it registered and hosted.

Every website has a unique name, known as a domain name. The domain name for this site is someonelocal.co.uk.

A domain name has to be registered for it to be listed on the world wide web. Once registered, a domain name cannot be used by anyone else.

Of course, owning a domain name does not give you a website. You need to build one and have it hosted on a webserver.

Both registering and hosting your domain are very cheap, and whoever hosts your domain will also be able to register it for you.

The first step is to find a suitable name that isn't already taken, and then pick a host.

So how do you know if a domain name is already taken?

You could type the name you want in the address bar of your web browser and see if you go to a website. If you do, it's taken.

Another way is to visit a website that provides hosting. They all let you search for available domains.

Try searching Google for 'web hosting'. This site is hosted by orchardhosting.

Once you have found a suitable domain name it is time to consider hosting.

A lot of companies provide web hosting. So how do you decide who to use and what package to go for? Consider the following...

Web space

100Mb is enough for most sites, but if you plan on having a lot of large photographs or a very large database you may need more.

Databases

If you plan on having a shopping-cart, product catalogue, or customer database make sure your hosting package includes at least one database (MySQL or MS-SQL) for each of them you require.

Webserver - Windows vs Linux

There are two types of webserver - Windows and Linux. The type you choose makes no difference to people visiting your site.

Unless you need Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP or ASP.NET), choose Linux, most people do.

Cost

Most hosting is pretty cheap, but be careful. Some of the cheapest packages may put unwanted pop-ups or advertising on your site.

Once you've got a domain and arranged hosting, all you need is a website!

Some hosting packages come with software to help you design your site, either free or as an optional extra, but you don't generally get a chance to try them before you pay for hosting.

If you don't end up with suitable web-design software, you still have a few options.

You may know someone who can design your site for you, or could pay for it to be done professionally, but this may not be cheap.

You could consider buying software to help you create a website.

Another alternative is to have a look at our prices.

The final step is to publish your website to the internet.

This is actually just a matter of copying all the pages and images from your development site to your webserver.

Software for developing websites should include instructions to publish the site.

If you are building your own site you can copy the files to your webserver using a free FTP Client.

If you opt for our web design service, we'll do all that for you.

However long you spend developing your site, you will probably still need to amend it to reflect changes.

But this should be quick and easy, and if you do it yourself, cheap.

If we build a site for you, you can choose to update it yourself, or subscribe to a maintenance plan.