This is a question I am constantly being asked, “what would it take and cost me to get a website?” I think this is a very important question, because in order to get a website, you will need to know this! So, in this post I will try to address this question.

The first thing you will need is not a website, but a hosting plan and domain name. “What is this?” you may ask. Well, a hosting plan is a public “storage bin” that you can store all your pics, videos, text, and anything else you will be putting on your website. You see, when you go to a website, you must understand that all the text, pics, and videos you see are stored somewhere. In order to publish them, you can’t just store them on your PC; you’ve got to “rent” a server. (OK, there is a way you can store your website on your own server, but to do this takes special equipment that’s not cheap. The best way to do it is to just “rent” a server.) You can “rent” servers from many different sites; I will just list a few:

HostGator
DreamHost
HostPapa
BlueHost

Those are some pretty good ones, but you can just google “web hosting” and you will get tons of results. For basic storage needs, you can get hosting for about $5.00 a month. If you need a lot of space (like if you want a lot of videos on your site) you will have to pay more.

The next thing you will need is a domain name. If you just sign up for a hosting plan, you will be given a number that looks like this: 216.27.61.137. This is what your viewers will have to type in to get to your website. This is not very easy to remember and will usually be ignored. So, you will need a domain name. A domain name will look something like this: google.com. Much easier to remember huh? Well, it turns out, to register one of these, costs only about $15.00 a year. Most of the hosting companies listed above offer a free domain name with the purchase of one of their hosting plans. Or, you can just google “domain name registration,” here are some good places to register one:

GoDaddy
Active-Domain
Yahoo Domains

Of course, you will not be able to register google.com, because that is already registered! You can email the domain owner and offer to buy it. (Of course, if you tried to buy google.com, you probably wouldn’t get a very good deal!) But, there are many domains that are still available, GoDaddy has a tool on there homepage that allows you to check and see if a given domain is taken or not.

And, of course, the last thing is to actually get a website. Even if you haven’t quite made a decision as to which domain registrar and hosting plan to get, you can still start getting your site ready. This is where I come in. Maybe some of you have some experience with web design, and you would like to save money by doing most of the site yourself. This is perfectly fine! I can help do the more advanced stuff you can’t do, and you can do the simple stuff. Or, maybe you have absolutely no experience. That’s fine too! I can work with anyone at any level of expertise! I can even help you get a good hosting/domain plan that will fit your needs. Email me if you are interested: tim@prorarity.com.  My fee is $12.00 an hour, and this covers basically everything you will need as it pertains to website components! And don’t forget to check out my web design website.