How to get a website?

[Maria]

So I want to get a professional website. I would like to just buy the domain and do it myslef because I am very capable of creating it myself! Price is reallynot a problem. Does anyone know where or how get get one?! Oh! And one thats set up like http://www.RandomName.com? No like .wix.com or something like that if you know what i mean! Thanks so much!

[Jake]

You would need a domain name and the more expensive part a hosting account, although you can use a custom domain name with certain free hosts maybe wix as well. A domain name alone is about $12/yr Godaddy and Namecheap are 2 popular registrars, Godaddy hosting is fairly unremarkable.

Most paid hosting accounts bundle a domain name and go for $4 to $9 a month for a typical shared server account. $8 is the standard monthly fee for 'unlimited' hosting.

There are countless hosting services, some hosting comparison sites might help, although most are collecting affiliate cuts regardless of which one you choose.

Hostgator.com is one of the most often recommended, said to have good support, they also pay a hefty affiliate finder fee which may be behind the enthusiastic recommendations.

[WebDesign]

Getting a domain name is as simple as searching to see if it available and if it is - buy it.

GoDaddy has the cheapest domains (google GoDaddy and you will see a link for .99c domain) once you get there they have a search tool that you put in your random ideas for a name and it will tell you whether or not that domain is taken.

The next thing you need is hosting. Hosting is the server that your domain will be 'served' to the public.

If you choose another hosting company other than GoDaddy.com (who are perfectly fine if you aren't setting up a WP site) then you need to 'assign' that domain to the hosting company.

Well known and fairly good to deal with are BlueHost.com and HostGator.com

Both of these have what is called a cPanel where it is a little more user-friendly (simplified) than GoDaddy.

If you want a WordPress or Joomla - both can easily and quickly installed from your cPanel

If you are new to this there is a lot to learn- but lots of free information available on YouTube and other websites.

[Jim]

Use ultimatewb to do it. It's easy and fast, and top quality, great pricing too.