I have been taking online to some of my colleagues recently and they keep asking the same question, about how to get started online at minimum cost and how to avoid scams. This weekend my friend Gary H, who gave me a fantastic header for one of my blogs, asked me the same question once more. This is what he said:

“I have to start my endeavours over again. I was starting to work with lunarpages and I think it an easy site. I moved into a deluxe condo. I want to utilize it as a business opportunity. Maybe a social networking site; maybe a recommendation of local businesses to outfit their new condo. I do have some ideas of my own to enterprise online. I viewed your sites and they look awesome…but ..who do I trust.. how do I choose? Could you narrow the choices to 3? I work full time but can work at projects evenings and weekends.”

That is a tall order, Gary, but I will do my best. I believe that the best way to start an information website is to use blog publishing software. I now use Wordpress, which is provided for free on my web hosting control panel

* A Domain Name
If you are blogging for profit it is best to buy your own domain name from the beginning. GoDaddy is a cheap, reputable reliable Domain Name registrar and you get Free Privacy cover included. It is very easy to find out which names are available and sign up for your chosen domain so choose your Domain Name today.

* A Web Hosting Company – I have used a number of different Web Hosting Services and my finding is that the best budget web host is Hostgator, who will host unlimited domains for $9.95 a month. They do not trap you into long term contracts, and there is a 30-day money back guarantee.

* Blog Themes – if you are using Wordpress you can surf around for some Wordpress themes that you like – or you can look at the free Wordpress theme I use on my blog and there is a link to get the same theme for your own blog.

* Traffic – display your site at Linkreferral, a totally free service where other members visit your site and review it, and you do the same. This is a source of quality visitors, PLUS Linkreferral provides a quality link back to your site and can help speed up the indexing of your pages for the search engines.

That is all so far, but I will add to this information and organise all my thoughts to help you get started.

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