Domain Names and Web Hosting: Before you look into the various ways of promoting and advertising your products and services, you need to have a website where you can display and showcase your products and services to the masses.

Now, the first thing you need is to get a domain name for your business. A domain name is simply a web address to allow people to locate you on the internet, for e.g. the domain name for my site which reviews home based business ideas and opportunities is [http://www.homebased-bizhub.com]. Choose domain name that is short and easy to remember. Your domain name should also be as descriptive of what your business is. To get a domain name, simply go to Google and type 'Domains' and you will have a list of about 110,000,000 sites that you can get your domains. Many people use 'Go Daddy', 'Host Gator' and 'Bravenet'. Personally I use 'Bluehost' and I am very happy with their services. Domains are generally quite cheap, about $5-$10 for the first year (there are however many great offers out there these days). It is definitely worthwhile to get your domain for a number of years in order to enjoy some savings. After you have 'gotten' your domain, the next thing you would need is a hosting account which you could also get from 'Godaddy', 'Host Gator', 'Bravenet', 'Bluehost' etc.

Creating Your Web Site: Having your domain name and web hosting accounts all set up, you are now ready to start creating and working on your site. Frankly, web designing is not everyone's cup of tea and for those who know nothing about HTML and web designs, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, because there are alternatives to creating and designing your own site, such as:

1. Getting somebody to do it for you. This is the easiest, but of course the most expensive, depending on how many pages you require for your website.

2. Getting a template. This requires you to put in a little effort but it is quite easy. Most templates come in a zip file with all the graphics you'll need and the best thing is that the HTML is already done for you. All you have to do is simply add your own text and links. Well, regardless of which option you go for, even if you are using a template, you still have to decide how and what your site is going to be made of, for e.g. How many pages do you want to have, is your site going to be static and constantly changing with the addition of pages etc. Generally, a typical website has the following pages:

1. 'Home or Index' page: The 'Home or Index' page generally the first page that gives visitors a brief idea of what they will find on the site.

2. 'About Us' Page: The 'About Us' page is where you share your vision and mission statements with your visitors so that they know what you intend to accomplish with the site.

3. 'Products & Services' page: This is where you sell your products and services.

4. 'Articles' page: This is a list of all the articles that visitors can read.

5. 'Contact' Page: This is where people can contact or email you if they have any questions. Some sites do put a contact form on the page instead of an email link.

Now, even though there are only 5 main pages, the 'Articles' page would eventually turn the site into a never ending growing site. Each article listed on the page would actually have its own article page specifically for that article. Therefore, if there are 100 articles listed on the 'Articles' page, the site would soon end up having well over 100 pages and that is how a site becomes popular. Well, the most important thing to do now is to sit down and map out what you want your site to look like. Writing is the key to making money online and the easiest way to sell online is to create a Website or a Blog.