You know you want a website, but now what? It's easy to get confused by all the options and the services that are offered on the web. Let me give you a few basics:

You will need to get three things to start with:

1. A domain name. This is the name of your website www.MyNewWebsiteName.com. It is also called a "url" and is what you type into the top of your browser to get you to a website. It must be unique in the whole world and so to start with, come up with a good name for your website.
   
   It should be something people will remember, connect with you or your business, and be easy to spell correctly. Oh yes - no spaces!
   
   You can find out if it's taken by just typing it into a browser. If you find yourself at a real website - it's taken. If you see "Open DNS Guide" then you're lucky and it's up for grabs.
   
   To register your new domain, just go to register.com, or yahoosmallbusiness.com or any one of the sites that offer domain registration. You purchase your domain for a length of time (about $15/year) and then have the option to renew it when it's up. Make sure you keep track of where you registered, your user name, and password - you'll need that to create your web site.
   
   OR - I can take care of this for you.
2. A web host. Now you need a place for your new domain to live. This is a service that is provided by companies all over the web. They will rent you space on their server and provide various services to keep your web site up and running quickly. Good service and reliable servers are of utmost importance here! You can find a hosting service for around $15/month - more if you require more than one email account or certain software support.
   
   Again, you can shop around and find a host for yourself or you can let me get this all set up for you. I am currently using BMC Hosting and finding them great to work with.
3. Web pages. Now - the fun part! You will need pages to display your very important content for the world to see. You can either find a do-it-yourself web site kit, enroll in some programming classes at your local junior college, or hire a web designer to create a web site for you. (I think you know where I'm going with this one.) A good website will have great graphics showing your logo, photos and products, clear navigation, and up-to-date content.
   
   Here's another choice for you - do you want a CMS (Content Management System) website that you can learn to update yourself? Or do you want a static HTML website that you will have a web designer update for you? You will see samples of both on my web design page. I have worked with several kinds of CMS sites and my current favorite is Mura.

I hope this information is helpful. Go to my "hire me" page and fill out the form if you would like to get some more information about how to get your site started.