Starting with a completely clean canvas, it's easy to feel quite daunted by all the technical, financial and creative questions to be tackled when starting your own website. But, depending on which route you take, you might not even need any technological knowledge at all, and some services will even let you design your site and host it for free.

At the other end of the scale, the creation of a unique professional-looking site might throw up a different set of challenges: buying a domain name, finding a good-value host and designing a site using a solid website creation package are all things that might need to be considered.

But by the time you have finished reading this feature you should have a much clearer idea of how you might go about creating a website, how to carry on maintaining it, and why you might want one in the first place.

Why a website?
The internet is open to anyone - there are no 'rules' as such, so just about anybody can have their own website. The popularity of the web has grown so much in the past few years, and it's no longer just academics and techno-geeks that use it. The web has become a crucial part of everyday life - so much so that, these days, if a movie, product, shop or company doesn't have an internet presence then it probably isn't worth bothering with.

If you're serious about something then you'll want to give it a voice on the internet. For businesses, big or small, a website can be vital in generating publicity and awareness. It's like having a big billboard advert permanently on display for the entire world to see.

But even if you don't have a business to promote you can enjoy the benefits of having an online presence. You might belong to a club or society, and a website is a great way of sharing information with the other members. Perhaps you are an amateur photographer and feel the need to show your work to the world via an online gallery. Or maybe you are just proud of your favourite pet and believe that he or she deserves a shot at global fame.

You may be self-employed and want to use your website as a kind of online calling card. Or perhaps you're thinking about setting up shop on the web yourself to cash in on the popularity of online shopping by selling your own wares to the public. You might have a very serious reason for wanting to start a website, or you may simply treat it as a bit of fun.

The important thing to understand before you throw yourself into a cyber adventure is precisely why you want a website, and what purpose it will eventually serve once it has been posted online. Once you have worked that bit out, half the battle is won.

What is a website?
Before you go any further, however, it's also worth considering what a website actually is before you decide exactly what sort you want to build. When you surf the net you look at sites and pages through a special window known as a browser - usually Internet Explorer.

Through a browser, websites (usually) look pretty, with pictures, graphics and animations alongside neatly arranged text on nicely laid-out pages. But behind all of this lurks HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which is the raw code that makes up the website. Browsers are programs that translate the HTML into finished pages.

Have a look at what the HTML code of any website really looks like by going to the View menu of your browser and choosing Source. Each line of text is a label that refers to how a certain part of the page should look - it's like a list of instructions or a blueprint of its layout. Don't be put off by how complicated it all looks, though. Nowadays you can build a perfectly good website without knowing a jot about HTML.

There are plenty of modern web design packages that work just like the kind of desktop publishing applications many of us are already used to. They let you lay out your page exactly as you would if you were designing, say, a poster, with a blank page onto which you can add and edit your own text and pictures. These programs then do all the hard work for you by converting your designs into HTML; they also usually include a wizard to take you step-by-step through the process of launching your site online.

What sort of site?
Now you can start to make some fairly big decisions about how you want to build your website. If, for example, you just want an online gallery of photos you've taken or a little place to speak your mind and share your ideas with others, then you might find that a photosharing service or a weblog is all you need.

Also listed in these boxes are some contact URLs for a number of free website building and hosting services that often provide enough materials to produce a good-looking non-commercial site for personal purposes. Using these services, your website is created entirely online, so there's no software to download or buy and learn how to use. There are often templates available, pictures to use (including your own), and spaces for text and tables.

If you want to create a website quickly and cheaply, a free hosting service is ideal. The disadvantage of such free services, however, can include restricted page layouts, a limit to the number of pages you can post, and intrusive banner and pop-up advertising. These issues can often be overcome by upgrading to the service's paid hosting option.

Doing it yourself
Aside from the website-in-a-box methods, the traditional method of creating a site involves the nuts and bolts of choosing/purchasing a domain name, finding a suitable host, designing your site and transferring it from your PC to the web once it's finished.

Domain names and hosting
Each website has to have an address or URL. This is the line of text that starts with an http:// that you type into the address bar at the top of your browser. The address points your computer to a particular page that is stored on a server somewhere on the net. So if you want to put a site up there yourself, then you are going to need an address and some space to park it on a server.

One way of doing this would be to purchase your own domain name. You can buy your own, personal domain name at places such as Easyspace, which offers a service to make the purchase and register your domain name for you. The same sites also usually offer some kind of hosting service that gives you a certain amount of free space on their server where you can store your website and receive/send emails. You'll have to make a one-off payment for the domain name itself, and then pay a montly fee to the company that is hosting your site.

But domain names are being snapped up all over the world by people eager to get online, and the dot.com address that you might want could already be taken by another user, particularly if it's based on your name. Sites such as Easyspace feature a search tool that scours the web to see if your chosen name is available. If the .com version is taken, then you could try .co.uk or .net instead.

Choosing a host for your website requires a bit of research. There are hundreds of offers advertised on the internet and in magazines such as Webactive. When choosing, look for additional benefits, such as email accounts and free FTP programs. Check how much web space is provided, whether you can pay monthly or annually, and how much notice you have to give to cancel the service.

You may already be paying for web space with your ISP, so check with whoever you use to access the internet. You'll probably find that website hosting is already included in your internet access service.

Putting it all together
If you're going it alone, then you'll need a website creation application of some kind to put your site together. These can range from free products and simple code editors such as Notepad (found under Start, Programs and Accessories in Windows) to full-scale, layout-based web creation programs that allow you to build a site even if you don't know anything about HTML, but can at least work a word processor.

Indeed, programs such as Microsoft Office and Word can create web pages, but specialised web creation programs include Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia Dreamweaver, NetObjects Fusion and Mindscape Web Creator. These programs can cost anything up to a couple of hundred pounds and some may take a bit of practice to get started with. However, the websites created with them can be very impressive.

The web program you choose and your skill at using it will, to some extent, also dictate the level of sophistication of your website. So if you want to include elements such as webcams, animations, guest books and audio, you might find that you have a lot to learn first.

Bear in mind that there's a lot of free stuff (scrolling text, pictures, animations and the like) that can be copied from other websites and used in your own. Have a look at our Build your own website: Animation feature for more details.

FTP
Once you have finished your virtual masterpiece, you'll want to share it with the world. Transferring a website from your computer to your web space usually involves a process called File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Software such as Cute FTP, Free FTP and SmartFTP are programs that can transfer or publish your website. Some of these programs are free, whereas others incur a licence fee. If you're using a web creation program such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage, however, it's likely that FTP functions are included, so you won't need a separate program.

Whether you use a dedicated FTP program, or the FTP facilities in a web creation program, you'll need to know some details concerning access to your web space. Your web address is required to transfer files. You'll also have a username and password for your web space, so only you can transfer and remove files. All of these details can be obtained from your web-hosting service.

Screen test
One of the most important parts of building a website is the testing stage - and we can't stress enough how crucial it is to try out your site's design, structure and any interactive elements on a wide variety of computers, browsers, operating systems, and different desktop resolutions. Ensure that all the pages can be opened, that links work properly, and that the content is displayed correctly.

Download times are important, so make sure your assortment of tests includes PCs with slow modem connections as well as faster broadband connections. Once you're satisfied that the testing has ironed out any problems, you may want to consider publicising your website. Registering with search engines is possibly the most effective method, but it may take several weeks or months to get listed.

Search engines including Google, Yahoo, Mirago and Ask Jeeves are all worth considering. But bear in mind that some search engines will charge you if you want to register with them. Others use programs to scan your website and decipher its purpose and key points, which can then be used in search results. Keywords and titles are sometimes used, but the content is often examined instead.

A cheaper method of publicising a website is to contact similar sites to your own and share links with each other.

Keeping it up
With your site checked, posted online and registered with all the main search engines, you might be fooled into thinking that this is the end of the story. But the best websites are the ones that keep up to date, and you'll find that you'll probably need to allocate a bit of time for maintenance and upkeep of your site.

As time passes, you might find that you need to update design elements, for example. Or, if you've included any contact details, then you might suddenly have to contend with an influx of emails, either from people eager to compliment you on your website or from the scourge of email itself - spam.

Some sorts of website will obviously require more updating than others but, in any case, a little time invested in monitoring your site, adding new content and processing any feedback you get will ultimately pay off in your favour.

Creating a website can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be - and there's no doubt that putting a site together and keeping it going is a hobby all in itself. Hopefully, you'll now have a clearer idea of what sort of web presence would suit you, and will be in a better position to get started.

Once you have put your site online, write in and tell us about it by dropping us an email to web_letters@computeractive.co.uk and use our Build your own website features and step-by-step guides to help create and add to your very own corner of cyberspace.

Domain names:
BargainHost

Checkdomain

Fasthosts

NetBenefit

Easyspace

FTP programs:
CuteFTP

Fetch FTP (Mac)

FreeFTP

SmartFTP

Transmit (Mac)

WS_FTP Pro

Free website creation/hosting:
20m.com

Free Website Hosting

Free Web Sites

Yahoo! GeoCities

Freewebs

Free Website Hosting Guide

Wanadoo/Freeserve Sitebuilder

Online photo galleries:
PhotoBox

Ofoto

Pixum

Fotango

Freeserve/Wanadoo photo sharing