5 Steps to Getting Your First Website Set Up in Minutes

So, you want to get a website set up, but you've never done it before? I was in the same spot a few months ago—I had never built a website ever. But it wasn't nearly as hard as it sounds. Here I'll show you step-by-step how I got my first website up in minutes!

Step 1. I purchased a domain name at Name Cheap, the domain name was $15 to register, and then I went to get hosting so that I could upload my webpage.

Domain names are pretty standard—you can get them anywhere really. I know that Mike Filsaime advises not to go with GoDaddy—they have really strict spam policies and can freeze your domain if there are complaints—but you can really go just about anywhere to get your host.

I would recommend that you choose the "privacy" option for your domain, so that you don't have a ton of spammers using your e-mail address or information.

Step 2. I went to Host Gator to get my web hosting and signed up for their "Baby Crock" service—one of the cheapest hosting packages that they have online.

I think it was $8/month to get unlimited hosting for all of my website and domains—I though it was a pretty awesome deal! Host Gator has been great to work with—especially as I was getting started.

I had a lot of questions, and I just got onto their "online chat" to ask my questions. They were really helpful.

Step 3. I went and downloaded a free HTML editor called Page Breeze. It's pretty basic, but you can edit all of your web pages with it just like if you were editing a Word document.

There is another free HTML editor called "Coffee Cup" that Michael Cheney recommends as well.

NOTE: HostGator also has some terrific web templates that are already designed and you can use and upload easily in a few minutes.

Step 4. I went and downloaded free FTP software called FileZilla.

Now, I had the code and the index pages, but I didn't know how to set them up or get them up on my website yet.

Step 5. I uploaded my index page (that I created with Page Breeze) and then uploaded it to my web host (Host Gator) using my free FTP software (Filezilla).

And BOOM ---you're done! That was pretty easy!