Choose a domain name: a domain name is the number people dial on the internet to call your website. It helps if it is an easy to remember domain name, preferably the name of yourself or business. If those are not available, try something catchy or a variation of the name.
Register your domain name: check registrars such as GoDaddy.com for the availability of your domain name. Dot com is the preferred extension although many others such as dot net, dot biz, dot info are also available. Registration fees run anywhere from $8 - $35 yearly.
Decide what your site will need. Look on sites of businesses similar to yours for ideas, write it down and try to develop a clear idea of your sites structure. What are the different pages you need, what do you hope to accomplish? Sales, publicity...customer relations.
Look for a web developer. Make sure to get a professional with experience and preferably one with experience in building sites such as yours. The best way to tell if someone is capable is by looking at their portfolio of sites.
Charges you will incur. Design/Development, Hosting:
Your website must remain on a computer that is connected to the internet 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week for it to be available when browsers attempt to view it. Costs may start as low as $20 for a shared hosting package and go as high as $200 or $300 for a dedicated server. A dedicated server is required when you anticipate a huge volume of traffic (bandwidth) and/or if the security of your site is an issue.
Maintenance:
Your site should be frequently updated with timely news in order to have repeat traffic. In some cases a site (dynamic website) may be developed with interfaces that allow the owner to login and update certain portions of the site without knowing anything about designing websites and/ or HTML. If you need your developer to update the site for you expect to pay between $35 - $50 / hour.
