You're going to need to register a domain name for your website and arrange for hosting. This may sound complicated - but it really isn't.

First you'll need to register a domain name. There are several registrars available, but I use GoDaddy.com - so I'm going to use that site for a few illustrations.

The first thing is to see if the name you want is available. So, when you first arrive at GoDaddy.com you're going to see a screen like this........

Not with the big red arrow - I added that to show you where to begin. So right in that field I'm pointing to - enter the domain name you'd like to have. Use variations of your company name, keep it as short and simple as possible. Using the ".com" extension is best - but ".net" is a good extension too.

I did a search for "clearpaynes.com" and it was available - so the next screen I got looked like this;

As you can see, it tells me that "clearpaynes.com" is available and right below that happy news the instructions tell you to " Check the domain names that you would like to register below." The very first block is the .com extension so put a checkmark in that box and scroll down to where you'll see a big orange button that says "Proceed to Checkout". A .com domain name will cost $9.99 a year.

The next screen may encourage you to register similar domains - but just click on "No thanks - continue to checkout".

From here, you'll be directed to the "Domain Registration Information" form - I'm not going to go through that with you here. You'll have to give a lot of necessary information; your name, address, email address, etc. Eventually you'll get to where you'll have to give your payment information and when you're finished the domain name will be yours!

GoDaddy offers 24/7 telephone support at (480)505-8877. So if you have any trouble, you can give them a call and they'll help you.

GoDaddy.com isn't the only game in town, but they're the registrar I use so I'm familiar with them. I've heard that 1and1.com is a good choice too and they'll register your .com domain for $6.12 a year at the time of this writing, so they're a little cheaper. Just follow the instructions and you'll have your domain registered in no time.

Next, you'll have to arrange for hosting for your website. There literally thousands of hosting companies available. Search for web hosting on Google and you'll get over 143 million sites returned! Daunting!

I've done some research and found a few hosting companies I think will deliver reliable service for you. A couple of these I've actually used myself over the years You don't have to worry too much about the various features hosting companies offer. The most basic server space is going to be plenty for any of these sites and you won't need a lot of bells and whistles to run your site. But here are a few you can check out;

SLHost.com - I started hosting my site, eCoverDesigns.com with SLHost 3 years ago and they've been a very reliable hosting solution for me. Their shared hosting packages start at $5.95 a month for the Level 1 package if paid yearly, $8.95 if you want to pay monthly. They also offer discounts for paying quarterly or semi-annually. They offer 24/7 support via email and I can testify that they are very responsive to any questions or problems that may arise.

HostGator.com - Click on the Web Hosting tab and you'll see they offer 3 hosting plans ranging from $4.95 to $12.95 a month. These are discounted rates for signing up for 3 year hosting. The rates are slightly higher for 2 year and 1 year hosting (prepaying for 1 year is only available on their Hatchling plan) and range from $8.95 to $14.95 a month if you want to pay monthly. HostGator has 24/7 support through a toll-free phone number, live chat and email.

HostRocket.com - Go to the Shared Hosting tab and you'll see the payment options available. If you pay for 24 months in advance, you'll get your hosting for only $4.99 a month. You can pay monthly too - but it'll cost $12.99 a month. HostRocket offers 24/7 support by email, live chat and telephone so if you have any questions or need help you can contact them in whatever way you're most comfortable with.

HostWire.com - Go to Webhosting > Shared Hosting > Startup Saver. They offer monthly hosting for $7.95 a month, 6-month pre-paid accounts for $45.30 or 12-month pre-paid accounts for $88.20. HostWire offers email and telephone support.

EZ-Web-Hosting.com - The Economy Plan is $7.95/mo if you pay monthly. They offer discounts for pre-paying for 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 2 years. They offer email support from their Contact page.

WestHost.com - Offers Personal and Business plans. You won't be able to check site statistics with a Personal plan so you'll probably want to go with a Business plan if you use WestHost. Their Business Starter Plan offers 3 month, 12 month and 24 month billing cycles. They charge a $19.95 setup fee. Support is 24/7 via email, live chat or telephone.

Once you decide on a hosting company and place your order, you'll get a welcome email. This email will contain information about logging into your hosting account. It should also provide you with the name servers (or DNS) you need to change your domain to. You will then take those name servers to wherever you bought your domain, and fill them in for your domain name.

Your name servers should look something like...

ns1.xxxxx.com
ns2.xxxxx.com

If you regestered your domain with GoDaddy.com:

1. Log in to your Account Manager.

2. In the My Products section, click Manage Domains.

3. Click the domain name you want to modify.

4. Click Nameservers.

5. On the Custom Name Servers tab, enter the name servers (at least two) for your hosting account.

6. Click OK.

If you have a problem with this step, just contact GoDaddy and they'll be glad to help you with it.

If you used 1and1.com to register your domain, they have instructions for changing your DNS here..

Once you get your domain name registered, have arranged for hosting and changed your DNS at the registrar, you're ready for your website to be uploaded. I'll be happy to take care of this for you if you want me to. Just send me your server login information.