I Want One!
Many people have asked me what it takes to run a website. I, as many visitors may already know, own and operate several websites besides NeopetsGuide. Between all of my sites that I own, many for years now, I think I have a good handle on how to start a site. In my attempt to help educate you, please keep in mind that you need to be realistic. If you do not have the time and energy required to run a site, consider joining one. This guide is geared towards Neopet-Related Sites, but can be easily adaptable to any type of site one would like to start.
Goal Setting & Hosting
Before you start, what are you main goals and main theme? I don't mean your goal is to have the largest site possible, but to help other Neopians or something like that. And a theme. Maybe you want to focus on graphics. Maybe guides, tutorials, or articles. Maybe a mixture of both? Well, decide this. Remember that you can always expand later.Where to host? If you are looking for a paid host (which I wouldn't recomend, especially if this is your first site), I would try HostMonster (hostmonster.com). Skipping away from paid hosts, there are your free hosts. The most common free host is freewebs (freewebs.com). Freewebs is very easy to use and is recommended if you do not plan to do much. However, if you know a little bit more about web hosting, I would try awardspace.com or something similar. They offer PHP so you can host your own cutenews!
Hosting.. Check! Name.. Negative!
Got a host? Ok. Decide on a name. Most Neopet-Related sites have the prefix "Neo" in it. "Neo" actually is way of saying something is new, but in the world of Neopia, it just mean Neopet-Related. When choosing a name, you have to be really creative. (I know, NeopetsGuide isn't that creative, but hey, nobody else has it!) Try thinking of random things around your house, your room, school, or the Neopet World. Using locations in within Neopia is getting very big. Once you have a name, you are set to move ahead.
Um empty page here!
Get a layout. Many websites offer premade Neopet-Layouts that you can grab. I offer them here at NeopetsGuide. (Graphics, then Website Layouts) I wouldn't keep the layouts as they are. Change some pictures, change the colors, customize it. If you aren't sure how to do this, read some tutorials. We have a few that could help. 
If you are really skilled with a form of coding (HTML, PHP, etc.), you may want to consider making a layout all your own. The benefit of that is having your site name for a layout credit. That's nice! Once you have a layout, you can move on.
I am alone!
So it's just you. No staff, no affiliates, and no visitors. What to do? Makes stuff! Start making graphics, write some guides, makes some tutorials, etc. Don't even start the process of hiring or applying for affiliates until your site actually has something on it. Learn some new tricks, too. There are loads of tutorials on how to create your own graphics, etc. Maybe you love to write and you can write stories for your site. Whatever you do, make it you and do it well. Once you have a few pages of solid content you should be able to begin finding staff.
Findin' Me Some Help! Da-Da-Da-Dauh
Next, you want to get staff. This is a bit tricky. The best way to do is by asking your Neofriends. Many people recommend posting on the Neoboards, but writing urls can get you frozen. If you have a neofriend who made their own userlookup, try asking them. I highly recommend reading our guide on finding staff members. You can just "back" click and find it. It really should help you out at this stage in your site's young life. Once you have at least one other real staff member, you can move on.
Gonna get me some Visitors!
Now that you have a site, you can apply for affililates. Before you have a lot of visitors, you should try applying to smaller sites first. Get a base first. Then, once you start receive more traffic (around 25+ unique hits), you can start applying to typical sites. Read my tutorial on getting traffic (back click and find it). Join topsites! That will establish you as a site and also get you new visitors. This is the BEST way to get visitors. People randomly browse through the topsites. Join some big ones, join some small ones, join a lot. Once you are at this point, move on.
Maintain Your Site
You need to keep active staff and continue to add things to the site. You will lose visitors if all they ever see is the exact same things they saw last month. Add new things all the time! Teach yourself new tricks for graphics, learn how to code something new, add things! Also, update all the time. You don't need to post Neopet News, although that is an easy way to keep the site updated, but atleast post a message saying what is going on, what you are working on, and what is coming up.
To Have or Not To Have
I recommend having Cutenews or a similar news updater. This allows staff to post news without having to log into site files. You can find hosters by visiting Neopet Sites. Makers are really cool too: Button, avatar, blinkie makers, etc. are very popular. You can even grab the code from us. Please do not put these annouances on your site. Don't have a link on your site that tells visitors not to touch something and if they do have a million pop-ups. That is just silly. Crediting your work is key, but putting large credits on your images will make visitors decide to not use them. Small, yet visible.
Afterword
One thing to ALWAYS remember is to give credit where it is due. If you ever remove credits, get caught (and you will get caught), your site is dead. Nobody trusts a site that has been put on a wall of shame. I hope that this information helps you get off your feet. Maybe sometime in the near future you'll be my affiliate!
-Shalane