Securing a domain name, setting up a website and launching a paid search campaign is about to become much cheaper and easier for small businesses, thanks to a service from Microsoft.

Microsoft's Office Live will debut on Nov. 15 and will allow small businesses and others to register any available domain name, create a fully functional website, and track visitors to the site, all at no cost, reports the New York Times. The free version, known as Office Live Basic, also provides 25 email accounts and helps business owners begin to advertise on MSN Search and Live.com with the AdManager tool. The service walks users through the process of setting up keywords, showing how many clicks each attracted and from which search engine.

Though offering the services for free, Microsoft has a strategy for making money from them. If a user signs up for a payroll service through Accounting Express, Office Live's free accounting program, Microsoft gets a cut, for example. When search ads are placed with MSN Search, Microsoft receives a few cents per customer response.

Microsoft also hopes most of the users of the free plan will eventually upgrade to one of two subscription levels, at $19.95 and $39.95 a month. Both versions offer more storage and more email accounts than the basic offering, DMNews explains.