Here you will learn how to make your own website using easy to understand, step by step courses, articles and tutorials designed especially for beginners.
Steps to Build a Web Site
Regardless of whether you want to build a business or personal/family Web site, there are 3 main steps involvedYour Website But what if you don't want to build your own website but would rather have someone make it for you?
What do you need to know?
As with any project the more you understand what is involved, the easy it is to make it a success.
Therefore I would recommend that you become aware of the basics, and these are covered in Websites for business owners.However it doesn't end there. Once the site is built you will then need to:
Build Traffic to the Site
Monetize and Make Money - Even personal websites can make money for the site owner. Monitor and Maintain your site
Many people start to build a website by choosing a domain name and web host and then decide on the website design, and in particular, the website building approach.
There are many different ways of building a website and there is no single best way.
It is also important to note that this doesn't just affect those who opt to build it themselves, it is also important for those who are having their site built for them.
Why? Well a web designer who is Good with Dreamweaver will think that all his clients need a hand built site. One who likes Joomla will build them as Content Management sites.... These may not be the ideal choice for his clients.
Building is only the Start
It is important to note that a website is probably never finished. So what happens if the site needs changing ? Who is going to do it, and how difficult is it to do.
What if it requires extra functionality? Is it possible with the chosen design method, and again how difficult is it to do?
Static or Dynamic Sites
Static ones are HTML or more commonly Today HTML/CSS. These sites are very easy to build (There are many templates available) and are simply edited using a web page editor, and are supported on all hosts.
They lack functionality e.g. How do implement a poll, comments etc. How do you change the navigation on all the web pages?
Dynamic Ones use some form of scripting (e.g. PHP,ASP) are very flexible and allow for advanced features. They are however difficult for the novice to understand.
Generally small sites (<20) with limited functionality can use static sites. The larger the site (regardless of extra functionality) then dynamic sites are better.
So you really need to have an idea of Roughly How big your site will be
What functionality will be required
Take for example a restaurant website. The owner elects for a simple 5 page brochure site. With just a Introduction home page a map, directions and contact, the menu and prices.
Simple enough a static HTML site... But he finds that he is getting lots of people visiting his site and decides to implement an online booking. He would also like to issue special coupons, and run a monthly prize draw.
This is going to require some form of programming. But does his package support it? How easy is it to implement? Who is going to do it?
How websites are Built
First it is important to understand that all websites are built from a site template. This is the first web page that is created and it is the starting point for all of your web pages.
Therefore the first step is to decide on what type of site template you are going to be using.
Using a Designer
If you pay a web designer for a site you will get a few standard web pages like home, contact, Privacy policy etc, all created using a page template.
This template may be one that the web designer has built him/herself from scratch or may be a free or commercial template that they have modified.
The same considerations apply when you make your own site. You can design the site template yourself or you can obtain one and modify as necessary.
Self Built Templates
If you design your own you have far more flexibility but far more work, and you require not only design flair but also the technical knowledge.
Even though I have done it several times I wouldn't recommend this approach, as unless you have an eye for design it is very difficult to get a professional looking site.
Pre-Built Templates
There are many sources of high quality professional pre built templates both free and commercial.For a normal small business website then you should easily find a suitable one for free or low cost.
The problem with them is that they will require modification and may require software tools to edit properly.
Therefore I always recommend that you choose a simple html/CSS template.
They are an ideal choice for small websites (1-20) pages that will be fairly static. However if you think that you will be adding new features to the site (like feedback forms, newsletters, comments etc) then you should start thinking of using a content Management type system like Wordpress:
Site build-it or Wordpress
A Guide to Hosting a Website
PHP, Cpanel, Multiple Domains, Packages, Linux
The most common type of hosting for personal and small business websites is shared web hosting, and there are 100s of shared website hosting providers to choose from.
However choosing a provider and website hosting package from the many thousands of offers can be extremely confusing. The object is not to choose the cheapest, or the one with the most features, but the best hosting for your needs.
The problem for those that a new to building websites is to determine what it is that they need exactly.
Although small business and personal websites generally have very basic requirements there are still one or two important points to consider.
Hosting on Linux or Microsoft Servers
All hosting providers offer both Linux and Windows server hosting options. Unless you intend to use a software package or tools that require Windows then you should choose Linux.
Linux hosting provides support for PHP scripts and MYSQL databases, which is the required if you want to use any of the popular blogging/content management systems like WordPress, Joomla and a host of other excellent open source packages.
FrontPage Server Extensions
FrontPage is a popular web building software package and it has support for web components that provide fancy features, but require FrontPage server extensions. I don't recommend you use FrontPage server extensions, and if you follow that advice your server doesn't need to support them.
However they are supported on both Linux and Microsoft servers.
PHP and ASP Scripting
Both scripting languages are used to provide enhanced functionality.
PHP is my preferred choice and there are thousands of free open source applications that require it. It is only supported on LInux/Unix servers.
ASP (active server pages) is the Microsoft equivalent of PHP and requires windows servers.
Website Hosting Providers
There are many hosting providers on the Internet but you may save yourself some time by taking a look at the ones below:
Blue Host Web Hosting - $6.95/mo! - USA based Professional website hosting . Incredible feature rich package including Wordpress, Joomla, Cpanel admin and Fantastico scripts. Supports multiple domains. Includes free domain name.
1&1 -UK- various package levels supports multiple domains. Free UK domain names depending of package.
Site Build-it- This is a totally different solution as it is a complete website building, hosting, promotion package.
Shared Hosting Costs
Shared hosting is relatively inexpensive starting at about $7 per month, making it affordable even for personal websites and incredibly cheap for business sites.Hosting is generally cheaper in North America than the UK/Europe, however just because it is cheaper it doesn't mean that it is the right choice for you. Please read website hosting and Location for more details.
Website Hosting and Domain Names
Although not strictly speaking necessary I would recommend you use the hosting provider for the web hosting and for the domain name especially as most provide a free domain name with the hosting package.
You can find out how they are related in Website Hosting and Domain names
Choosing from a Hosting Package
Some hosting providers provide several service package levels e.g.
Basic
Business
Professional
Ecommerce (i.e. a shop).
When you examine these offerings you find that the professional may support a SQL database, SSL etc and the basic one doesn't. When you are new to website building it's difficult to decide what you need, as you're probably not sure as to what most of the terms mean anyway.
Generally I would say that if you don't understand it then you probably don't need it; as it is very unlikely that you will ever use it. Because of the huge array of offers it is impossible to compare them all, and to make any firm recommendations.
So before you begin make sure you ask yourself these questions.
Why do I want a website?
Will I need to update the site frequently?
Will I sell products from the website?
Will I use the website to attract new customers?
Will the website simply be a brochure for the company?
What will my website visitors expect to see?
Will I have private parts of the site?
Will I publish a newsletter?
How much am I prepared to pay?
Will I be doing it myself?
Website Research
For business Websites it is important to target the right keywords. You need to be aware of what search terms searchers will use to find the service/product that your site offers.
Building it Yourself or Outsourcing
Once you have a general idea of what you want from your website you can then move on to the second stage of deciding who will be doing what.
As with any project you can either:
Do it Yourself or Have someone do it for you or a mixture of the two.
Generally speaking outsourcing will mainly be considered by business website owners but is an option regardless of website type- business or personal.
Outsourcing doesn't necessary just mean getting someone to do some work for you. It can, and often does, mean buying a package/service that does the work.
This is very common and even very experienced webmasters do this.
As an example if you want a to establish a newsletter and your host doesn't provide one or the one it provides is inadequate you can either: write one your self or use an existing autoresponder service.
Your level of expertise and how much time you are willing to commit will determine to a great extent how much you will outsource. Generally the more technically capable you are and the more time you can devote then the more you can do yourself.
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