How to set up your own website
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1. Choose a website (domain) name that you want.
It can be your name, your company name, an abbreviation or just some word you made up. Note that most three or four letter long domain names have been taken and the only non-alphanumeric character allowed is "-"
2. Do a search to see if that domain name is available.
Visit any registrar (I like to use Domainsatcost.ca) to search to see if your domain name is available. Usually the search will check all the domains (.com, .ca, .net, .org, etc.). Try to choose something short and easy to spell. The general population are notoriously bad spellers.
3. Choose a domain registrar to register your domain name with
Now that you've chosen a domain name that you like find a registrar that offers you the best price and services. It does not matter which registrar you register your domain name with, it will be recognized worldwide (as long as you have chosen a standard domain (ie. .com, .net, .org or any of the country extensions like .ca).
Don't just choose a registrar based on price, check to see what they offer in terms of technical support and self-management of your domain names. The good ones will allow you to modify settings associated with your domain name online and allow you to keep certain details private (ie. contact e-mail addresses which are often targeted by spammers).
4. Now that you have registered your domain name you will have to decide where you want to host your website.
Usually the registrar you purchased your domain name from will offer webhosting services as well, but you don't have to use them. Look around and choose a web host that offers the services you need (bandwidth, uptime, storage space, programming support, services). You may want to choose a Canadian host that charges in CDN $.
The FREE webhosting option: Your current ISP may offer a basic webhosting package included with your account. If you plan to use that then you will probably have to use a webforwarding service as most ISPs won't allow you to use your own domain name with their included webhosting service. Free webforwarding services are available from MyDomain.com or Zoneedit.com. When you sign up for these services they will provide you with DNS addresses that you use so that your domain name is directed to their servers and are then forwarded to your ISP's webhosting service.
E-mail: Usually your webhosting package will provide you with some e-mail mailboxes and provide instructions on how to set these up. If you use the webforwarding services they will allow you to set up e-mail addresses for your domain that you can forward to your current e-mail address (ie. jdoe@yourdomain.com will forward to jdoe@yourisp.com).
5. After you have your webhost set up, design your pages and upload them to your webhost.
Using a HTML editor design your pages and then upload them to your webhost. Then you're done! You've got your own website.
6. Don't forget to renew your domain name before it expires!
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