The process of choosing a company to host your website can seem daunting.  You can abandon this search and look at Site Build it or search through the endless list of providers.  I ran a small web hosting company from 1994 to 2000 (the Internet was in its infancy and Al Gore didn’t know anything about it yet).  Back then the only companies offering web presence were really web designers and they were hoping to get work by offering to host the site.  I hope to assist you in your choices by offering some tips that can help you head off some potential hazards.  You begin by picking a name for your site.  You can choose a custom name such as

www.a-very-good-article.com

Alternatively, you can partner with a company such as Google that will give you a web presence with a shared name such as

www.google.com/a-very-good-article.  

If you intend to own your own Domain, you may want to take care of that first.  See “what are domains” on our site for more information about how domains work.  There are many companies that can register your domain for anywhere from $10 to $35 per year depending on services you choose.  Choosing a registrar is outside the scope of this article but a list of ICANN approved registrars can be found here:
 http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html
Any company on that list can register your domain name so it can be found on the Internet.  Stay tuned for an article on how to choose one.  Note that some registrars also host websites and vice versa.

Next: OK I have a name, now what?