The first step to making a website is to decide on a domain name (i.e. yahoo.com, techtroupe.com, etc…). It can be anything you want, assuming the name is available. Go over to 1 and 1 and search for domain names that you might be interested in. We also offer an easy domain name checker below, as well. Check it out! Don’t be discouraged if the names you want are all gone, you may just need to be creative in finding the right name; instead of flowersforyou.com maybe try flowers4you.com or flowers4u.com or even flowers-for-you.com, because all three say the same thing just with different domain names. Good luck and happy searching.

The next step in making a website is to have it hosted somewhere. Personally I like 1and1.combecause they have never, ever given me any problems! They are also one of the cheapest hosting companies out there, plus you get free domain names if you register with them.  So, basically they can register your domain, and host it for you, which makes it very easy for anyone just starting out. Also note that you will be able to have your own email address based on your domain name such as yourname@yourdomain.com. This, of course, will make any business card or company header seem much more professional than using a free email account at yahoo, gmail or hotmail. In fact, you don’t even need to put up a website; simply register your domain and sign up for an email service instead so that you get the great email without having to deal with running a website.

Once you decide on a company you will need to know which plan to select because most hosting companies offer many different plans. If you’re thinking of running a blog like this one then you won’t need much in terms of bandwidth or disk space. ANY plan at 1and1.com will be able to host a blog or small website like this one. Of course if you’re looking to sell items in a webstore then you would need to select and ecommerce-type plan that offers the programs and scripts built-in like item listing and credit card billing. Don’t worry if you select the wrong plan as you can always upgrade, or downgrade, by contacting customer service (and, yes, they have great customer service!).

Once you have a domain name and a hosting plan then the next step is figuring out what you want to do witht site. 1and1.com offers easy to use templates to get your website up and running quickly. You can use those templates or search the web for free ready-made templates to use as your design. You can also create your own design by using a WYSIWYG html editor such as Microsoft Front Page or use a free html editor like Nvu. If you want to run a blog then I would suggest using WordPress as it’s the easiest to install and use.

If you go with a blog, template from the web or you just want to create your own you will need to upload it to the site via FTP. When you signed up for a hosting account they will send you an email message that contains important information and passwords including your FTP account info. You will need to use that info in order to access your website and upload files. Internet Explorer has FTP built-in or you can always download an FTP client from download.com.

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Search engine traffic is the best website traffic you can get. Using your own domain will help you achieve high rankings in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. Using a “free” host name is usually frowned upon by search engines, therefore eliminating any possibility of potential gains.

It’s real easy getting your own domain name these days. Due to competition, the price has dropped considerably since the days of $70 names. Some good places to go are namecheap.com and godaddy.com. They provide the best bang for your buck, so to speak. Be careful about searching for names at Network Solutions because they “hold” whatever domain name you search for so you can only register it with them. It’s an unseemly practice since they charge 3 times as much as others do for domain registration.

Once you have your domain name then you need to get hosting somewhere. I personally use 1 and 1 for hosting of this blog, and would recommend it to anyone. They are cheap and easy to use.

If you are using 1 and 1 for hosting and have any questions, feel free to ask via comments or email me at ryan—at—techtroupe.com (replace —at— with @ (used to prevent spam))