I need to start a website to inform about a professional service. I won't be collecting information or anything like that. I merely want four tabs of basic information, like Home, Services, Bio, Contact.

Forgive my ignorance, but what do I do?

If I buy a domain name, what is my next step?

If I have a domain name, do I just need a host? Can anyone recommend a host that is affordable and reliable?

Does the host provide a website-builder wizard? Or can someone I know "write" it for me and then the host will "put it up"? I want the option of both...

Can anyone help me?

I use fortune city

www.fortunecity.com

It provides some good page builders that are easy to use. If you use your own domain,like I do www.unitycatholic.org for example, it is very inexspensive.

There are free sites but you don't get your web name the way you want it

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If I buy a domain name, what is my next step?

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I will start you out then I am sure others with more experience will fill in the gaps.

There are 2 parts buying a domain then having it hosted for others to view your site.

You want to try to find a hosting company that offers free domain registering (this buys your domain for 1 yr or more). If you don't go with the same hosting company as the registering company, find ones that are cheap (ipowerweb.com is 2.95 I believe).
Here is a thread I had started to get others opinions you may want to read:
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=16779

The only one out of the list I presented that I would even consider is www.bluehost.com. The others did not have good reviews. I found a site that reviews a lot of hosting companies:

http://www.webhostingjury.com/review...ff39cc8652be99

This may confuse you but do not sweat it. You do want one that offers decent technical support to help you along. The one that seemed really good is www.u2-web.com.

Again, others might help you along to give good site names.

Yes, some hosting companies do have wizards that you can build your site. Most will also allow you to upload pages (they will not do it for you) that you build on your won to their server. You can also use FrontPage Express or Dreamweaver to build your site. These things are fairly easy to learn.

People on this site are very knowledgeable and are always there to help if you need it so don't hesistate to ask as many questions you need to.

Hope this helps.

Does anyone know anything about http://www.networksolutions.com ?

It appears they have free domain with hosting and technical assistance.

Thank you all for your suggestions, keep them coming!!

The first question to answer is "Do you want your own domain name? (www.catholicgirl2006.com)?".

If not, then here are scads of free hosting sites to check out, here.

If you need your own domain, there's LOTS more to think about: Mostly about how much time and money you can afford.

You need to register the domain name and have hosting. Cost-wise, you're looking at $50 to $100 a year for both.

Site-wise, you can either make it yourself with software like FrontPage ($80) - or have someone do it for you for a fee.

Yes, most hosting companies have a Web Builder feature of some sort.

I use Lunarpages for the hosting of my 11 sites: It's $94 per year for hosting and the domain included. Tons of great features.

That only leaves the learning of the software. I propose you can get a page with links up within a few hours of installing it.

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Originally Posted by catholicgirl

Does anyone know anything about http://www.networksolutions.com ?

It appears they have free domain with hosting and technical assistance.

Thank you all for your suggestions, keep them coming!!!

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I am not sure how their hosting is. I know back 3-4 yrs ago I worked for a local hosting company that at one time dealt with netwrok solutions and they were horrible. They had unethical practices(in my opinion). One that I can think of is when someone tried to move their domain over to someone else, network solutions sometimes blocked them. They are comparable to other higher cost companies. But personally, I wouldn't go with them.

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Originally Posted by catholicgirl

Does anyone know anything about http://www.networksolutions.com ?

It appears they have free domain with hosting and technical assistance.

Thank you all for your suggestions, keep them coming!!!

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Network Solutions, at one time, had a monopoly as a registrar for domain names. They still, I believe, have responsibility for maintaining the Domain Name Servers that translate domain names to the physical server address.

I would say there are better choices for both registering a domain name and hosting a site. I've used GoDaddy.com as a register and have been happy with both cost and service.

As the others have indicated, the first step is to register a domain name. You don't actually own the name, but register it for your use for a period. When the period expires you have to renew your subscription. Registration fees are fairly nominal.

Once you have the domain, you need to find a host service. Many host services have templates that can get a page up on the WEb quickly. Otherwise you would need to design the pages yourself (or have someone design them for you). There are many authoring software packages that you can use, a number of then available as freeware.

The final step, is uploading the pages to your host. The host service will provide instructions on how to do that.