A couple enjoying gumbo at JazzFest

I often meet folks via chat programs such as PowWow or ICQ, and when I tell them that I do web development for a living, I get questions about how they'd love to set up their own web page, but they really don't know where to begin.  Being the lazy guy I am, I decided to write down what I usually say to those folks on this set of pages. 

Web Site Location

The first issue that you have to resolve when startintg your own page is where it will reside.  The average user has several options:

• Internet Service Provider:  Most ISPs, including AOL, provide individual users with anywhere from 1 to 5 megs of disk space on their web servers for personal pages. 
• Hosting Services:  Companies like AccessZone sell space on their servers to users, primarily for commercial sites.  Many people expand their initial sites into small businesses, or they just have so much they want to communicate that they opt to pay a hosting service a monthly fee to get more disk space.  Many hosting services also support development using Microsoft FrontPage, which can be an additional factor in your decision-making if you own FrontPage.
• Free Hosting Services:  Sites like www.geocities.com or www.tripod.com offer free space to any individual who would like to put up a web page.  The catch (you knew there had to be one) is that all of their sites have banner ads at the top advertising their sponsors.  Additioanlly, both of these services will pop up new browser windows with banner ads in those windows.  This can be annoying to the reader, but hey, the price is right.
• Adult Hosting Services: If you plan to have any adults-only content on your page, companies like GeoCities and many ISPs will not allow you to place it on their servers.  Because of this, there are a number of adult-only hosts that will gladly speak with you about your needs.