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If you live in Cambridge (UK), you can create a very simple webpage without needing any technical knowledge. You fill in a form, and Cambridge Online sets up the webpage for you. You can then update it whenever you want.
Otherwise, to have your own website on the internet, you will need to:
~ find webspace on the internet
~ write the website
~ transfer your website to the internet.
Webspace
If you have an ISP, they may give you webspace. Go to their homepage, and see if there is any reference to webspace, or creating your own website. If not, then some websites will give you free webspace, such as Geocities. Make sure you select the free webspace, not the paid!
Writing the website
You can write and test webpages on your own computer, before putting them onto the web.
Many word processors, such as Word, allow you to create webpages. There are other programs as well, like Composer or FrontPage Express. You compose the webpage as if you were using a word processor, using buttons at the top for adding links and pictures, altering the background, etc.
You may wish to write your webpages directly using HTML, a formatting computer language. To see the HTML of a webpage, such as this one, click on 'View' (at the top of the screen), then 'Source'. Online guides can help you learn HTML. While learning, do very small amounts at a time and test as you go along.
The following information refers to PC computers only. Use Notepad to create your HTML file, and save the file so its name has .htm or .html at the end. To look at the webpage, find it using 'My Computer' or 'Windows Explorer' and double click on it. When you change the webpage, remember to save the file, and click the 'Refresh' or 'Reload' button to see the latest version. Mistakes in HTML do not produce messages. They either mess up the webpage, or do nothing at all.
Once you have a webpage on your computer, you can build a website by making several more and linking them together. Your best guide to good website design is studying other websites. If anything annoys you about other websites, don't do it yourself! You can find pictures, sounds and other features on the web for your own website, but remember that copyright exists on the web. You may have to ask permission before using things from someone else's website. To copy a picture to your computer, right click on it and then click on 'Save Picture As'. It is best to have your whole website including pictures in one folder.
Transfer to the internet
Once you have a complete working website on your own computer, then you must transfer it to the web. This is done using a program called FTP. Your ISP may have given this to you, or you can download it from the web. Remember to copy across all of your website's files, the HTML files and any pictures. Then look at your website on the internet, to check that it's OK.
People must be able to find your website. You can add a link from Cambridge Online. You can get in touch with similar websites, asking for reciprocal links (both linking to each other). You can submit your website to search engines. If you look at most search engine sites, somewhere there is a link to 'submit a URL' or 'add a site'. If you don't do this, then the search engine won't know that you exist.
Good luck!