I get asked all the time “How would I start a website?” So I decided to create a simple guide to setting up a website and choosing a domain and hosting. This is broken down into two things; hosting and a domain name. A good domain name is key and finding the right one can be difficult. Everyday hundreds of domains are registered and are taken. This means that good domain names are becoming harder to come by. You can either try your luck and register one that is not yet registered or buy a domain that is for sale or at auction.

Domains

If you want to register for a new domain, I recommend GoDaddy. You have probably already seen their commercials (Their famous Superbowl commercials).

If you are looking to purchase domains there are a few places I recommend.

Sedo - Buy and sell domains and websites with Sedo.com. Over 13 million domains and websites are for sale in our marketplace! Sedo’s services include domain parking, appraisals, and brokerage.

Pool.com - Pool.com offers new risk-free services including free domain backorders and searches of over 20000 deleted domains. There are no upfront fees. You pay only when domain is secured.

eBay - Great place to find cheap domains and recommend if you are starting out.

Hosting

When it comes to hosting you don’t want to cheap out and sign up for free hosting accounts. Free hosting sometimes place ads on your website and don’t allow you to have full control over your site. More important some affiliate networks will deny you for having your website on a free hosting account. If you are looking for reliable hosting I would stick with a few different hosting companies. I recommend you start with a shared hosting account (cheapest solution) which will be about $6/month or so depending on the plan you choose and your payment selection. The hosting companies below are in order of recommendation from highest to least.

Hostgator - Great service with 99.9% uptime. Excellent customer service and when you sign up you get a free $25 adwords coupon. You can find the latest coupons and promo codes for Hostgator at HostgatorPromoCodes.com.

Thinkhost - Quality earth friendly web hosting solutions from Thinkhost. Green FrontPage, PHP & MySQL. Web site hosting services all powered by solar and wind renewable energy! You can find the latest coupons and promo codes for Thinkhost at ThinkhostCouponCodes.com.

Lunarpages - Lunarpages offers Hosting with SQL database, JSP, ASP, and shopping cart. You can find the latest coupons and promo codes for Lunarpages at LunarpagesPromoCodes.com.

Tags: auction domains, Beginners Guide, domain auctions, domain names, ebay, ebay domains, pool.com, Sedo, Setting Up a Website, website startup