If you are new to the internet or you just want to have your own presence on the web you may be wondering how you can set up your first domain name and website hosting account and what tools you will need for creating HTML pages and transferring files.

The process of creating your own website may seem daunting at first but its actually very easy and its essential that you master this skill if you are serious about earning a living on the internet. Without your own website you will find it much harder to generate consistent profits and long term success.

The first thing you will need is a domain name which is very important because you need to choose a name that accurately represents what you intend to use it for. Its best to use a dot com domain because this is what people are familiar with but as they are the most popular it can be hard to find names that are available so you may want to use a dot net or dot info domain (adding hyphens between words can find available names).

When you have decided which niche you want to target its important that you find out what search terms are used by your target market because if you include a few keywords in your domain name it can help you improve your rankings in the search engines. You can buy a domain name from a company such as Go Daddy.

The next thing you will need is a website hosting account which is also very important because you need to choose a service that provides sufficient disk space and data transfer as well as supporting all of the latest versions of PHP, Perl, JavaScript, and CGI. Its best to use a service that provides multiple domain names so that you can set up new websites in the future.

With website hosting accounts now available for as little as $3 per month for 5 gigabytes disk space and 50 gigabytes data transfer there really is no need to use a free service anymore. Most companies will also allow you to upgrade your account if you ever need more disk space or data transfer. You can buy website hosting from a company such as Host Excellence.

The next thing you will need is an HTML editor which is essential because it allows you to create and edit HTML pages which are used for your website. It uses a simple "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) interface which allows you to quickly and easily create pages exactly how you want them without needing to use any HTML code.

There are many free tools that you can use but if you are serious about your business you really need to buy an HTML editor called Dream Weaver which is the most advanced software application available for creating websites. It has all of the essential features and many which are not available with free HTML editors.

The final thing you will need is an FTP client which is essential because it allows you to connect to a server and transfer files into your website hosting account. It allows you to either transfer files in ASCII or binary and also set permissions using the CHMOD feature. Without an FTP client you will have no way of transferring your HTML pages into your website hosting account.

There are many free tools that you can use but if you are serious about your business you really need to buy an FTP client called Cute FTP which is the most advanced software application available for transferring files. It has all of the essential features and many which are not available with free FTP clients.

There are of course other features of your website hosting which you will need to learn how to use such as how to set up an email account for your domain and how to create a MySQL database for a blog or forum. It may seem complicated but its actually very simple and you can always get support from your host if you need any help.

About the Author

This article was written by Simon Akers who is the editor of the Marketing Oasis newsletter, a free internet marketing ezine packed with tips to help you succeed and increase your profits: http://www.MarketingOasis.com