This is now my web hosting of choice. They have all the add on that I will ever need and they add more all the time, from guest books to message boards – all come free with the hosting, makes life easier all round. Oh and they’re very cheap. You can find other cheap web hosts if you visit webhostingsearch.com

Software – this site is built using Dreamweaver 8. I had the choice between FrontPage and Dreamweaver, my experiences with Microsoft to date pushed me in this direction, plus the first book I bought on building a web site recommended Dreamweaver highly. The software is fairly easy to use and there is loads written about it all over the net, so that makes it easy to get answers to questions.

Building a Web Site for Dummies by David Crowder, part of the Dummies series, was my first book. Keep in mind I was a complete novice – I had no idea about building a web site, web hosting or anything else. Next book was Dreamweaver for Dummies and then HTML for Dummies, they are all written very well and very easy to understand.

I got out the credit card one morning and used it too quickly without really knowing what to look for from a web hosting company, so I am satisfied with my current web hosting company – but not happy. What to look for from a web hosting company. First loads of written information, because forget ever getting help by mail or phone, so if there is not a good written guide on how to use their service – forget it. Get PHP if you can. Yes you may ask what is PHP? It is a programming language – no you don’t have to learn it – but most of the great add on’s around the web are now written in php – message boards and the like. Not having php is a long term handicap that you don’t need from your web hosting.

Mostly I would say take some time and do some searching on the type of site you want to build, look at other sites that are similar, (don’t copy them) and spend some time with pen and paper writing out your plan and ideas – if you don’t know where you are going at all, well…

Lastly – do you need to pay for web hosting? Well, if you need the power from a dedicated server, you will have to pay for it. There are various free web hosting services out there, and I will list some free web hosting services here later, (no time just now). Hope some of this helps