Whilst hosting your own website gives you lots of freedom, there are lots of factors that you need to take into consideration.
When you purchase webhosting you are often purchasing some space and features on a server (a big computer that you can access via the internet). The space means that you can upload content to share on your website, whilst the features often enable you to do this, such as being able to have your own email address, run databases and keep your site secure.
Whilst webhosting can be cheep (around £40 per year), a domain name will be an additional cost, these can range from just a few pounds to hundreds (and more).
So, whilst this may sounds a little overwhelming, as long as you have a good webhosting company and support and you understand the above considerations you will be fine.
I use a company called siteground and have done for a number of years. To me they are reliable, good on security, I can choose the geographic location of the server and their support is always good.
The link below is to siteground and is an affiliate link. If you purchase hosting when you click on the link and I receive affiliate money I will then gift the money towards the student graduate show fundraising.
https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=43acfbfd22c5dd9afa7361ce0ae0bd8c
