You have been thinking about doing it.

It was one of the reasons you purchased your home computer. You know it is an important job skill. You think if you learn to do it, it will help you understand the computer better, and you're right, it will. You want to create your own web page and really learn the web and HTML, but you've been procrastinating because it seems like such a big job. Well, here are five steps to get you started on the HTML path toward building your own web page.

Discover the theme or content of your site.

The web has so many different things you can expound upon. You name it, it's probably already there, from underwater basket weaving to mutual funds. Finding what you are interested in will make a page that is more fun for others to look at and read. But if you're stumped, here are some ideas for getting those creative juices flowing: Creativity web (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative). At this site you'll find features such as creativity basics, techniques, and affirmations.

Missing from the web (http://jimworld.com/mftw.html) Here is a public forum listing many different ideas that are (or may be) missing from the web. If you can't think of an idea, then maybe you can find it here.

Find a place to put your page.

There are many different places that you can host your site. Some are even free. Fort Knox, Logic and Northrock all offer web space as part of your Internet access account.

Determine which software tools you will use to create your pages.

There are three basic kinds software programs that every person who creates a web page uses.

First you need either an HTML or text editor to write the HTML code for your web page. HTML editors write the HTML code automatically for you as you click on things with your mouse. Unfortunately, most HTML editors, like Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver, are not free; in fact, they are quite expensive, at least for my pocketbook. Another drawback is that you have to learn the specific software just as you had to learn Excel and Word.

If you learn HTML you can use a free HTML text editor or the free text software that is already on your computer (Notepad on a Windows PC and SimpleText on a Mac).

Second, you will need FTP software to upload your finished pages to your web server. A lot of FTP software is not very expensive. Fetch is a good FTP client for the Macintosh users, and CuteFTP is good for Windows PC users.

Finally, you probably will need files of graphics and/or photos, so that you can make your page more interesting. Since a picture is worth a thousands words, most web masters use a graphic editor.

Don't be intimidated by all these software tools. I know people who design their web pages in Word using the paint program and the text art feature. You can write your web pages in any text editor. And clip-art can be used to create wonderful web pages.

Learn either HTML or the HTML editing software you chose

Many people create great web pages without ever knowing HTML. Since you have to learn a few things to create a web page, you might as well learn the language that web pages use. HTML is so easy to learn that it's almost silly not to.

If you learn HTML then you will be able to quickly solve problems that an HTML editor might cause.

Consult the adjoining box for the basic HTML tags and you'll be well on your way to creating your first page.

Let people know about your site

Once you have your site up, you want to have people look at it. There are many ways to promote your pages.

Word of mouth: Tell all your friends and tell them to tell their friends.

Email: Add your URL to your signature so that every email you send is an advertisement of your web site. But don't spam people. Sending out mass emails to announce your site is annoying and some ISPs will cancel your account for that type of action.

Link exchanges: If you see a site that is related to yours, write to the author and ask to exchange links.

Search engines: Submit your page's description and URL to every search engine you can find.

Creating web pages has become so common and so easy today that there is no longer any good reason to not learn how. As you master the basic skills you will be able to refine your techniques in order to make increasingly useful and aesthetically pleasing web sites. Start today and make it your new job skill or your newest hobby.