The first step to getting on the World Wide Web is to secure some web space. A web hosting service will keep your website on their servers so your site can be accessed by everyone on the web at any time of day.

There are a number of strategies to think about here. Many Internet Service Providors (ISP's) provide web space as part of their monthy fee.

AOL for example provides 2 megabytes of space per screen name. And with a potential of 7 screen names, 14 megabytes of space is more than enough for many sites. And this web space is free of all advertising. If you don't mind advertising, AOL will include up to 20 megabytes of space per screen name for a total of 140 megabytes.

And Earthlink also offers a similar deal as do many other ISP's. However, this may not be the type of web space that you really want. And here is why. AOL and Earthlink are not really in the business of providing free web space to their subscribers and do a very minimal job of supporting it. In many cases, their servers are not able to handle website requests and their technical support is at a bare bones minimum. And uploading of files on AOL happens just one file at a time, too. This can drive anyone crazy.

Other services provide free web space as long as you are willing to accept their pop-up or banner advertising. One example is tripod.com. The catch here is that you have no control over what advertising you are displaying to your family, friends and clients. And who wants someone else's business advertising on their website anyway.

Most people who want their websites to always be accessible, and do not want advertising, and want technical support, end up subscribing to a web hosting service. There are many web hosting services out there and most offer a very small monthly fee.

It can be difficult wading through all of the technical lingo trying to find out which one offers the best service. The web hosting service this site is on is olm.com and they seem to be doing a fine job. At the moment, their fees start at less than $10 per month for up to 75 megabytes of disk space.

At some point, at least a week before your website is ready to go online, you will need to make a decision on where you want your website to be. I can help you with this process.

I will also provide you with temporary space so you can monitor your website's construction process. But when your site is ready to officially go online, you will need a place to put it. Once your website has been uploaded to your web hosting service, it can be accessed by anyone on the web who knows your web space address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator).