The two things you need is a program to make the pages for your web site and someplace to host your web site. There are simple free programs like NVU http://www.nvu.com all the way up to high end authoring programs like Dreamweaver. Then you need hosting, there are free services like Geocities and then you can pay for a domain name and host it at any of the countless hosting providers.
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This is a good place to host your website:

http://www.squarespace.com/

First, you can either redirect your own domain name here, or you can use one of their own .squarespace.com domains. There's a monthly subscription fee starting at $8, but the intuitive design meathod that the company provides is all worth it, in my opinion. They have a 14 day free trial so you can check it out without having to commit to anything. Watch the video on the front page and you'll see what I mean.
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I think there are a few key questions you need to answer before diving into building a site:
1.) What is the goal of the site (e.g. what do you want it to do)--> this will involve programming and site development.
2.) What do you want the site to look like (e.g. design/layout)?

My other thought is that many of the "free site templates" out there are sub par. If you really want something that looks nice and will function properly, this will probably entail hiring someone to help you (my attitude is that there is no reason to spend a bunch of time learning site design/programming when there are tons of people out there already that have the skills and are willing to help for $).

Check out the following sites to see the cost assciate with different types of site designs/programming.
www.elance.com
www.odesk.com
www.guru.com

Again, have a clear understanding of what your goal is and try to be as detailed as possible. There is nothing worse they starting to do something before you know what the end goal is. A word of caution: if you choose to post a project on one of the sites listed above, aske for references (that you can contact) and past projects the person bidding on your project has completed. It is key to identify someone with the right skill set you need to develop the type of site you want.
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