5 Steps to Easily Build Your Own Website Starting Today

With newer tools being introduced in rapid succession to build a website, the basic structure is perhaps getting relegated to the background. You can give expression to your creativity, but following these simple steps can lend a usable structure to your web site.

1. Customer/user is the King

The reason why we build a website is to take our message to the user or the viewer and generate revenue by selling products or services to him. Keeping the key elements of your website structure like 'home page', 'about us' page, and 'contact us' page, on every page can facilitate easy navigation. Generally, make things easy for the viewer, is the watchword.

2. Scalability

You are making a beginning when you build a website. Your business should grow and your web site should also grow with it. Keep ample room in the structure for your growth needs.

3. Access to Home page

Keep the 'Home Page' accessible from any part of your website. A "home page" link attached to your logo on the mast head will give the visitor a convenient way to navigate back even when he chooses to go deep in to your site.

4. Site map

Providing a site map is a great idea. Use page titles and make a list ensuring that the titles lead to the respective pages. The user can then conveniently switch from one page to the other within your site.

5. Links

Check your links thoroughly. Every link should be working perfectly and leading exactly to where they are expected to. You can build a website to last long when you consider these points.

Steps to Make a Website

Listing the steps to make a website can be a rather difficult task because there are so many ways to make a website. In this way, the steps one person uses to make a website may be completely different to those someone else uses.

I would therefore encourage you to look around and consider advice from a variety of sources but here in this article I will break down my own steps to making a simple yet attractive website. As I'm sure you can imagine, setting up a large shopping site or something as complicated as Ebay or Facebook is too much to cover here, but we can look quite reasonably at the smaller sites.

For me, there are 5 principle steps to make a simple website. They are:

1) Set up your website address and web hosting account
2) Gather the software necessary to make your site
3) Create a general website template into which you can put your text
4) Duplicate the template so you can set up your website navigation
5) Finally, add your text to the various pages before uploading them to your web hosting account

Let's take a closer look at each one of these now.

Set Up Your Website Address And Web Hosting

Once you have the original concept for your website, select a suitable website address and order it together with your web hosting. Consider getting your website address and web hosting from the same company which saves time and makes life a little easier when it comes to setting up your site.

Gather The Software Necessary To Make Your Site

There are hundreds of different pieces of software available to help to make a website quickly and easily. These range in price from free up to several hundred dollars and the best bet is to download some free trials and see what you like the look of best.

Examples of software you might like to check out are Joomla, FrontPage, Dreamweaver abd some of the online web builders like those available at Site Build It and Website Wizard.

Familiarize yourself with the software you've chosen so you can make a reasonable-looking website without too many problems.

Create A General Website Template

Now you want to make a single page of your website. Don't worry about the text and so on - but choose the colors and the layout so it looks just like you want. Make a logo if you want one, add pictures and navigation areas.

You can speed up this process when making a website by either generating ideas from other people's websites (I keep a stack of web design magazines on hand at all times that contain thousands of pictures of existing websites that I can flick through for ideas) or by using one of the existing free website templates.

These templates have been premade by graphic designers and there are sites which host vast numbers of them so when you want to make a website you just go over, spend a while looking at the options and download the one you like best.

Then simply open it up in your web design software and make any changes necessary to make it look "just right".

Duplicate The Template To Set Up Your Website Navigation

Next, make enough copies of the page as necessary so you have one for each page you require on your site. Name them all differently and ensure the navigation menu you put into place in the last step now leads effortlessly to your various pages.

Add Your Text

In the final stage, add the various text and photographs you have the relevant pages and then upload them to your webhosting account for a final test.

Once you're happy you've followed all these steps to make a website and your site works as expected, you're all done. Good job!

How to Create a Free Website

Ask yourself this question - is your website for fun or for business? If it's for fun, then you can use the free domains which are available on the internet by just searching them. But if your website is for business then you may want to invest for domain hosting and its registration.

Before you start, make sure you have installed the two software, namely the Google toolbar and the Alexa toolbar. They are free so no need to panic about added expenses. Google PR (pagerank) is an estimate how important websites are and that would reflect in the placement on a search page when a searcher looks for a particular search term. Alexa ranking shows how many hits you get from website's visitors web traffic.

Now that you are set, let's find how you can create a website in just 6 steps:

1. Research and choose good keywords to make it easier for the guests to search your site from the search engine.

2. Buy a hosting package from a reputed web host and choose a domain name that is unique and reflective of your business.

3. Start creating your web pages by choosing a template that would complement your business.

4. Upload your website with informative content. And update the pages from time to time.

5. Optimize your site for the search engines so visitors can find your pages easily.

6. Monitor your website traffic and observe what topic gets the most hits. Keep your visitors interested and offer fascinating content. When talking about hits on the website - the more the merrier.

How to Create Your Own Website For Free - Get Real!

Sorry for the snide title, but you get what you pay for in life and the " How to create your own website for free" mentality really holds true for website design and development.

The truth is you can get great quality web presence without spending much at all, not free, but pretty darn cheap.

Inexpensive Hosting - Not Free Hosting

Free hosting is limited, unreliable and not very secure.

So...if your going to create a website/websites and put your valuable time and energy into writing content you need to set up a real hosting account. Preferably you should seek a hosting account that allows multiple domains on one account. That way your only billed monthly for 1 hosting account but can have as many web sites as you need.

Many adsense publishers will have 10,20, or even 100 or more domains on one account. The revenue generated by the adsense ads easily justifies the $3.99 per month of the lone hosting account.

Learn to Edit HTML Templates - Cmon... You can Do It!

If you really want to save money and keep with the " How to create your own website for free"
Mentality, you should learn to add content to basic pre-developed HTML/CSS web templates.

The advantage of this is you don't have to design or develop the website at all, all that has been done in advance. You will be adding your own content, links, images and adsense code into a template, probably similar to note pad. Most are free!

Most of these real templates beat WYSIWYG type editors because the code provided is much lighter and easier for search engines to spider and index. Better SEO.

For example adsense websites are not about fancy design, they're about good layout and compelling content. You can take one HTML/CSS template and slightly modify a few elements and create hundreds of websites.

So why not spend some time learning some very basic HTML - believe me once you get past looking at the code and are used to the basic tags publishing pages is a piece of cake.

It's easy, and can be very profitable...once you know how.

How to Create a Successful Web Page Layout

A web page may seem like a puzzle, but keeping the layout simple and conventional will help your visitors finding what they need. You may be tempted to be more creative and unique, but keep in mind that web surfers will thank you for conforming by coming back to your website. To stand out, plan to use creative and unique colors and graphics instead. Here is an example of a simple and conventional layout that works well for most websites.

This article provides free, simple, and comprehensive information, hints, tips, and tools that will allow you to create a successful website. If you have time to learn, it will show you how to get the best of your website and how to run a successful internet business.

Header - Common identifier area

Every page of your website must let the visitors know that they are at your website. Here you may decide to feature your logo, banner, business name, or other graphic. Pay attention to the height of this area; if it is too tall, your content will be begin too low on the screen.

Navigation bar area

The navigation bar helps visitors finding their way through your website. Side navigation bars support an unlimited number of items while horizontal navigation bars leave more width for the content of your web pages. If practical, I always recommend the use of a horizontal navigation bar. Larger websites may need multiple navigation bars.

Web surfers are not very patient and will quickly leave your website if they do not find what they are looking for. Think your navigation system thoroughly to make it simple, efficient, and to minimize the number of clicks required to navigate through your website.

Bottom Footer - Common notes area

Every page must let the visitors know some key information about your website and who to contact in case of a question or problem. This area is also often used to repeat some or all of the links found in the navigation bar.

Main content area - Content is king

The main content area is what your visitors actually come to see. A useful and content rich website will convince your visitors about the seriousness of your business and will invite them to return to your website. Plan ahead and don't make your content an after fact simply to fill up empty spaces. Work and rework the text of your web pages, especially your home page.

Be aware that readers are uncomfortable with extremely short or extremely long lines so plan to use a two or three column layout, a bit like on a newspaper. Short paragraphs like on this page work well too.

Secondary content area - Flasher

A secondary content area is sometimes used for advertising or for highlighting some content that needs to be more visible. If you don't need it, leave this space for your main content.

Background and Colors

The newspaper industry figured out a long time ago that black letters on white paper are easy to read. Other dark font & light background color combinations work well but are a bit more risky. Light font & dark background color combinations often look strange. Do you want your website to look strange?

Pictures, logos, and artwork

Find pictures, logos, and artwork for your web pages. Save time and money by scanning printed documents you might already have. Use a digital camera and take your own pictures. Many websites including Microsoft offers great royalty free pictures.

Large picture and clips take time to download. Impatient visitors might be tempted to leave your website if it takes to long to download. Use judgment and balance.

Flash animations

Flash technology is sometimes used to create animations or sounds effects on web pages. While it can sometimes be cool, some people (like me) find them extremely annoying and will leave your website as soon as they start. Flash animations take time to download and distract your visitors from the main content of your website. Do you still want to use flash?

Outbound links

You worked hard to get a visitor to your website and the last thing you want is to loose them through outbound links. Providing non-competitive related links is great but make sure outbound links open up a new window so your web pages are still opened.

Page width

Each web browser can be set differently so web pages can look differently for different users. I always recommend a fixed page width of 775 pixels. Those pages look good for the vast majority of your visitors and will print well on a regular 8½" X 11" sheet of paper when the left and right margins are minimized.

Alain Houle owns and operates Alco Web Design which provides affordable website design and hosting services for small business owners. He strongly believes in effectiveness through education, simplicity, elegance, functionality, and affordability. Find free additional information, all related to small business website design and marketing, at http://alcowebdesign.com

How to Start a Website

Looking to start a successful website?

Don't know what to do?

Are you looking for information to build a website for your business?

Ok here is what you need to get started.

6 Steps to starting a website

1. You need a Domain Name: Gotta have a domain name like...ezinearticles(dot)com. If you know about real estate in New York City...Maybe "newyork-city-realestate.com." It's easy and only cost about 10 bucks. There are literally hundreds of places to register your domain name.

Just type in your favorite search engine without the quotes "Domain Name Registering". Remember use the .com extension not .tv or .org. Most people will remember mywebsite.com not mywebsite.org!

2. Web hosting: Or as most folks call it a place to park your website. Kind of like a street vendor where you can showcase your products, services, and or both but only on the internet. Webhosting is really cheap. Some hosting companies charge less than 4 bucks per month. So this means you can have a website started for about 15.00 USD dollars. Jeez...where else can you start a business for 15.00 bucks? Oh by the way stay away from free web hosting companies.

3. Traffic: Yes just like the street vendor who needs lots of traffic so people can see what they have to offer. If you want a successful website you need traffic...and the best kind of traffic is free. Believe me free traffic is the best. You can get this kind of traffic from the Search Engines. There is no charge to submit your website to the S.E.'s. Do not use websites that will submit your website to thousands or even millions of places. They do not work...how do I know? Been There done that! It does not work man.

4. Learn HTML: Again there are thousands of website that will help you accomplish this. There are HTML tutorials, online lessons, downloadable ebooks, books at amazon.com and a plethora of website to help you with the crazy machine language. If you want to be in charge of your website and or blog you need at least a good working knowledge of HTML.

5. Content for your website: You need content where do you get it? You get it from your own personal knowledge, from what's inside your brain. Write about what you know...I can not stress this enough. You really do not need lots of flashy graphics, heavy javascripts, or tons of programs. Just get a pen and paper and write what you would like to convey to your website visitors.

6. Write articles: Yes write about what you know and submit them to article directories. Make sure to provide a link in your author resource section back to your website. This a great way to get good targeted traffic and one-way links back to your website.

Starting a Website

The best place to submit your good content article is at EzineArticles.com - Do yourself a favor and do it now.

3 Simple Steps to Build a Website

I see a lot of people just putting up anything and calling it a website. They have no clue as to what they are doing, now I am not attacking these people, but it is important you learn some simple steps to follow to build a website.

Take the time to learn what is involved with build a website. Don't let a lot of the techy stuff scare you off. Today more than ever there are hundreds of places to get information on building a website take advantage of it.

Have a clear plan of what your website will look like and it's purpose, make sure you have the proper tools for building your website, it won't cost you hundreds of dollars to get these either.'

Here are some simple steps to follow to build a webstie:

1. Your Layout - be sure you know what your website is going to look like, this is very important. Believe me people can tell and spot a poorly put together website. Check other websites within your niche and see how they are layed out, do not copy them but you can use them as your model.

2. Tools - this is so important, if you are using the wrong type of tools you will be wasting a lot of time and possibly money. Most of all the tools you need to get started are free and you can find them online. Research what you will need before you start this can save you a lot of time.

3. Understanding - as you've heard I'm sure that knowledge is everything, it is no different when building a website, get a basic understanding of HTML and how websites work. This isn't hard to do and won't take you weeks either, there are many resources out there that will help you grasp this.

Ok there you have it 3 simple to follow steps to build a website, take this and use it. If you just dive right in you might just find yourself with an ugly website and not getting any signups or buyers and wondering why.

There are is no reason for this, especially since I have given you a great resource and there are a lot of places you can learn the basics before you get started.