The prices of domain name registration and web hosting have dropped to the point that it's possible to own multiple websites without going broke. If you plan to operate multiple websites, here is some information on the different options available to you. 

The first thing to consider when setting up multiple websites is whether or not to host them all with the same web hosting company. Many web hosts offer packages that let you set up multiple sites on a single account. For example hostgator who lets you have unlimited domains.

An advantage of using a different hosts for different domains is that you'll get a different IP address for each of your sites. If your sites are related to one another and you want to link them together, having different IP addresses can sometimes help your site rank higher in the search engines. Links from other sites are one of the most important factors in getting your site ranked highly. If those links come from sites on the same IP address, it is likley that the benefit from that link isn't as good as one from a different ip address.

If you do choose to host all your sites with one company, there are essentially 3 choices – separate accounts for each site, a reseller account where they are all hosted or a dedicated server. Separate accounts are self-explanatory, so let's look at reseller accounts. As a reseller, you are basically acting as an agent for the hosting company – a middleman between them and the end user. The idea is that you can set up your own company offering web hosting that is ultimately hosted by the company. You don't have to resell this hosting however – you can use the hosting services for your own websites, essentially “reselling” the hosting to yourself.

A reseller account is nice because all your websites are “under one roof” and you have a single point of contact for any technical problems. Hosting on a dedicated server gives you complete control of the computer that is the web server. You can install any software you want, any operating system you want and you can allocate resources like memory and hard disk space however you want to divide it up between your sites. The disadvantage of a dedicated server is that you are responsible for maintaining the server and sometimes even for the technical side of things. If you aren't familiar with the technical side of running a web server, you may need to choose a managed dedicated server, where the hosting company looks after these issues.

With today’s changing trends in web hosting services, it is important to get as much server space and bandwidth as you can. This will allow for necessary updates and increased traffic to your site as it becomes more popular. It is equally important when purchasing business web hosting that CGI access is provided; along with features such as MySQL, instant backup, site builders and so on. A crucial feature necessary for doing ecommerce is SSL, or Secure Socket Layer. This encrypts all order and credit card information until it reaches you. An SSL certificate can be purchased from most web hosting providers. Displaying it on your ecommerce web site verifies that your site transactions are safe and secure. There are many service providers to choose from. If you look around, you’ll find some good deals that will fit your budget. Look here for a review  of the most affordable web hosting companies

If you just want to test what it might be like to run a web site you can start out by for exanple starting a simple blog under wordpress. It will not be your own domain name but you can still get a lot of traffic to a wordpress blog hosted by wordpress. Are you willing to deal with advertisements that take space or have an irritable effect on your readers? These ads are often required by free web hosting plans because it’s the only reason they can continue letting people enjoy free web hosting. Are you ok with low bandwidth access and minimal web space? If you don’t like this I suggest you go with a web hosting company that has a monthly cost or paid yearly and get a reliable hosting that still is low priced. Once you start getting a few visitors you can start monetizing the blog or web site with Adsense and easily make more than the hosting cost you.