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The easiest place to start is with a place that allows you to use pre-designed templates, such as Angelfire, Geocities, or 20m.com. I used 20m.com, and I prefer them because they allow you to edit the pages in any number of ways to your own liking. Now I'm sure some of the other web page building sites will allow you to do this to, but 20m.com is very easy to use. More on why I reccomend them down below.
Using a template is only the first step to being a web publisher. I reccomend you start with a web template because it gives you a good introduction to the world of web publishing. The next step is to start using HTML. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. This is the programming code with which web pages are built. To see the HTML I programmed to build this part of the site, right click anywhere on the page (not on a link). Then, when you have the menu up, choose "View Source". This should open a new window that will bring up a bunch of junk. If you look closely, you can actually see this text in that window. The rest of it will be a bunch of code surrounded by "carrots", those symbols that end each code with ">" and begin each code with "<". Anything contained within those carrots is a command for how the page will be displayed. Your Internet browser then reads these commands, and translates it into the web site that you are now seeing.
Here's the reasons why I prefer 20m.com. It's free. As are many other web building sites on the internet, but that's cool too. You can't get much better than free. Even in the pre-designed template parts of this site, I can still edit the HTML of those pages. Yes, just because you may have used a template, that does not mean there isn't HTML behind it. The web hosting template company just does all of the HTML work for you. This part of my site, as well as a few others, are not used with a Template. I made this particular page from Scratch. Where did I learn my (minimal) HTML skills? Good Question.
I self-taught myself what I know at HTML Goodies. Don't let that statement discourage you just because what I know sucks. There is still tons of information, basic and advanced. This is an excellent site, and I reccomend it to anyone who wants to learn the skills to build a web page. But with any new task, you have to learn to crawl before you learn to walk. There are a few primers on that site, to get you introduced to HTML. I reccomend you start with those. Now, granted my own HTML skills are limited, but I am not a web-page master. Yet. If I was, there would be nothing on B Moore Than You Are that is designed by Template. So as I learn more and more, this page will continue to be enhanced.
I encourage everyone to get into this. So what if nobody ever sees your web site? I doubt this will ever be seen except for a handful of people. But building web sites is fun. Yes, it can be a long process, but when you are finished, you have something to look back on and be proud of. You can send a link to all of your friends and family, and have them look at your site. Then you can say "I made that. Can you do that?" It's very satisfying, and a great hobby. Plus, as we all know, computers are the future, computers are the now. And a large part of computers is the Internet. It's good to have a few skills in those areas. So go!