You’ve got some tasty recipes that Great Aunt Petunia insists you share with the world. You want to express your frustration as to why there are so many of those “Friday the 13th” movies. There’s that resume you keep meaning to put online. Put simply, you’ve got some stories, information or pictures you’d like to share with anyone interested, and you don’t want to spend too much effort or money.

If you’ve ever wondered how to create your own website, it’s easy if you keep it cheap and simple. Since most free web hosting services offer similar basic tools and features, we’ll examine one of the more popular providers: Check out GeoCities, located at http://geocities.com.

When you sign up for a GeoCities Free website, you must pick a topic. This subject will be used to automatically display relevant ads when people view your site: Who would care about fashion industry ads when the website is about your travels to Costa Rica?

A quick note about ads: When you browse the Internet and read websites, the information you read is contained on someone’s computer. The information arrives on your screen thanks to a maze of wires and cables. Someone has to pay for all this, and this is why the majority of free website providers require your website to display ads.

Once you complete the free website registration process, you can start building your site. In the old days, creating a website used to require specialized knowledge and lots of typing, but not anymore. There are two very helpful tools at your disposal, PageWizards and PageBuilder.

If you want to do as little work as possible, no sweat. Pick a color and layout for your website, fill in your text and pictures, and the PageWizards do the rest of the work and will create a professional looking page.

If you want more control over your page’s appearance, or are more technically comfortable, use the PageBuilder tool. Dictating the appearance and placement of everything on your page, allows your site to be further personalized, making it more unique.

To remove the forced ads from your website, or to get more tools and features, you must pay money. Rates start at $5 per month and move up from there.

For comparison, also see http://tripod.com and http://bravenet.com. While both provide similar services to Geocities, your specific requirements or techie comfort level may lead to prefer one over the others.

Finally, a warning: When you put information on the Internet using the kinds of free services mentioned here, it’s accessible by everyone on planet Earth. A website has less privacy than a Hollywood celebrity. Welcome to the Internet: You can say anything you want, and there will always be somebody listening.