For people just looking to start out investing, the stock market can be complicated. That's why it is often a good idea for new investors to begin their stock-trading journey by buying exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on popular market indexes. One of the best ETFs to start investing in is the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO), which is based on the popular S&P 500 index.

Let's examine why this can be a great first investment for those without much investing experience.

The S&P 500 has long been considered the benchmark of the U.S. stock market, as it tracks 500 of the largest stocks by market capitalization (cap) in the U.S. The index is market-cap weighted, which means that the larger the value of the company, the larger the position it holds in the index. The one great thing about market-cap-weighted indexes is that they let their winners run and become larger contributors to the index over time, while stocks that underperform become smaller parts of the index.

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Source Fool.com