Tip 1: Budget - the cost is always a factor. There are some cheapies and even freebies, but they usually have serious limitations. To setup a professional site, skip the freebies as they are totally unprofessional and usually have ads on your site that you cannot get rid of. Also, the sites are usually not all that reliable as far as downtime and they have extreme limitation on size and number of pages you can have.

Tip 2: Bandwidth - most sites limit your bandwidth and charge you extra when you exceed it, or in some cases, shut your site off completely until a new month arrives giving you your monthly quota. This is extremely important if you have a heavy traffic site or you are hosting a lot of images that take up bandwidth.

Tip 3: Storage - this can also be a problem if you are uploading lots of graphics and images. Size does matter.

Tip 4: Uptime - many sites advertise 99.9% uptime, but is this really true?

Tip 5: Sitebuilder - many sites now offer a built in sitebuilder with web templates to help you set up your website. They may also allow you to use programs such as Frontpage to build and upload your site.

Tip 6: Domain Name - in order to setup your site you will need a domain name. Does the webhosting site also offer domain names or will you have to go to a third party to purchase one?  What is the cost?

These are just a few of the tips to help you get started with your very own website.

The site that this blog is written on has an outstanding record and meets all of the tips shown above and more. You get unlimited bandwidth, plenty of storage space, domain name, sitebuilder wizard with templates, and 99.9% uptime. The packages start at $5.95 a month. I have been using this site for many years and have never had a problem and never encountered any downtime. I highly recommend them and you can get more info  HERE.