This is probably the most confusing part of setting up a website, whether it's for personal use, for a business, or for a nonprofit. It's what my clients have generally had the most questions about, and also an area where I feel there isn't a lot of accurate, accessible information available on the internet.
To have a website accessible to the world, you need two components: a domain name assigned to your site, so people can find you (like "DigitalRaindrop.com") and a place to put your site, for the domain name to point to. Think of a domain name as a sign...you need both a sign, so people can find your house, and a house, so the sign has something to point to.
I've written a brief overview of both of these processes...it's really simple, once you know the basic things to look for. Some care and research in the planning stages will save you a lot of frustration later.
