When people learn that I earn a living online, one of the first things they ask me is how much does it cost to have a website? I assume its because they like the idea of making extra money online and want to find out how much it would cost for them to do it too. In this article I'm going to explain the basic costs of starting your very own website.
How much you spend is largely up to you. You could easily drop thousands of dollars on bells and whistles that you don't really need. But all you really need to get started is a domain name and a reliable web host.
A domain name is simply the name you want to give your website. For example, Google's domain is google.com. To get a domain name of your own you have to pay an annual fee to a registrar. This gives you the right to use that name for your website. Prices vary from one registrar to another but you can get your own domain for as little as $8 a year.
Of course having a domain name doesn't mean you have a website yet. You have to find someone to host your site for you. Think of your web host as your landlord, but instead of renting an apartment you're renting space on their server. Their server is connected to the internet and that's how your website is available to the whole world. As far as actually building your site and adding content, there are plenty of free site builders to choose from and most hosts let you choose whichever one you want.
Prices for web hosting vary wildly from one host to the next. They all offer different features and some are better than others, but there are many hosts that only charge around $5 to $9 per month. Of course you'll want to shop around a bit to find one that suits your needs.
The best place to find information and comparisons on hosting providers is at http://webhosting.youcompareit.com where you can read actual customer comments, complaints, and web host ratings.
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