Choose a Hosting Provider
When you decide on web hosting for your fan site, you should take into consideration your goals, storage needs, traffic anticaption, and desired features. If you are looking to do something simple to start, you can start off small with limited resources. This section is set up to find suggestions to get started. However, if you plan to launch something with custom programming and memberships, you will want to seek out a paid option or even a VPS to accomdate your needs.
If you are not famillar with building a website, let's put ambitions aside and look at hosting providers to set up a static fan site. Depending on what you've choosen for your path to design your site, you may have more options with your hosting. Picking a host with a built in web builder will limit your ability to move if your site outgrows the provider. So take this into consideration when deciding if you think you want to scale or stay small.
NOTE: With any hosting provider, watch out for "FREE DOMAIN" claims. You are better off paying for a domain and having full access to editing your DNS records in case you ever need to switch hosting.
Neocities
Neocities is where this site is hosted. It provides just enough space to launch a simple site with a good file organizer and quick way to edit files. You can also easily upload files you build with an desktop code editor. If you later upgrade to a supporter level, you can connect your domain and increase storage space.
What sets Neocities apart is the site tags feature, site status updates, and ability to "follow" other sites. This sense of community allows you to engage with an audience faster. I highly recommend Neocities for this alone, as a fan site is more about engaging, making connections, and even forming friendships.
Freehostia
Freehostia is an option that's been around for a while. You get a small amount of space (250 MB) to host site and a single MySQL database you could use to run script. You get a file manager to upload a website your created offline. There are paid options to increase your storage and bandwidth as needed but reviews on their customer service vary. I recommend checking current opinions before upgrating.
AwardSpace
AwardSpace has been around since 2004. They offer a decent amount of space to get start and file manager to organize your website's files. If you need more space, you can upgrade to one of their premium plans. Just beaware that "unlimited" is not true unlimited. This means your storage use is not actively restricted unless it impact others on a share server.
As with Freehostia, reviews vary. I recommend always checking the most recent reviews before upgrading.
000webhost
000webhost is another long time option. They provide a small amount of space (300 MB) and small bandwidth usage but you also get 1 MySQL database. You also get an FTP account to upload files or an option to use their web builder. If you need more resources, they have premium plans available.
Wix
Wix has a rather fun web site builder. It's great if you never made a website before and you want to get started quickly. You can easily drag and drop elements to build your site. However, due to the proprtity nature of their web builder, upgrades are more expensive than traditional web hosts. The starting premium plan only provides 2 GB of storage space, which may or may not be enough for you.
WebStarts
Webstarts is another drag and drop website builder. They've been around for quite some time. You get a lot of opportunity for creative expression here but like with Wix, you will pay more for upgrading because of this. You do, however, get more storage space than you do with Wix for the upgrade price.
Webador
If you are looking for something that doesn't give you pixel perfect but still gives you some control while being easy to use, Webador has a nice builder. You can drop in elements like images, text, or columns and adjust how they appear. If you want, you can also embed HTML onto your pages and even edit code between the head tags.