Creating a website

First post!
How does one go about starting a website? What are the costs invovled and how do I know what I'm getting?

Try yahoo site builder

Try yahoo site builder. It is a great website building tool that allows you to make professional websites. The best part is that you can design your website for free. Once you have designed it you host it through yahoo which i think costs 10 dollars a month. It is one of the better site builders/rates out there. Be sure to back up your site too. My hard drive died and i lost at least 40 hours of work.