Its getting to be that time that I am really thinking about starting up a website. I want a professional looking site and the websites you get for free have very limited space and do not look professional in the slightest. I suppose I am starting this thread to ask if there is a guide to setting up a nice, clean looking website. I know nothing about website design or how to go about getting one. I get confused with hosting and domains, and the like.

I would assume the first thing I need to do is secure a domain name. I went to GoDaddy.com and it says the domain name I'm wanting will be $11.99. Then I went to hosting and hosting seems pretty inexpensive, but I'm not sure what I really need. All of the GB and bandwidth information has my mind turned into soup. Would anyone like to explain all this mumbo jumbo to me?