Creating the Perfect Website - A beginners
Guide
by Amanda EvansAre you looking
to create the perfect website? A complete novice when it comes
to HTML, CGI, FTP and all the other associated pieces that make
up the website puzzle, then this article is definitely for
you.
By following the 5 guidelines listed below you are guaranteed
to create the perfect website.
1. Plan your website
Creating a plan of your website will help you identify the
purpose of your website and will also help you to see how many
pages you will require. You should then research similar sites
to see how they appeal to their target audience. You should
also make a list of the tools that you will require, for
example do you intend to have a guestbook, a message board, a
chat room, a web journal or blog. How often do you intend to
update your site? Are you going to sell products from your
site?
By answering all of the above questions you will have a very
clear perception of what your website will be about and what
you will need to get it up and running. You can then move on to
step 2.
2. Finding the right hosting service
Choosing the right hosting service will depend on your
individual needs and having created your website plan this will
make choosing the right host a lot easier. Before paying for
hosting I recommend that you check out some of the free hosting
companies. Here you can host your website for free and learn
about web-building in the process.
Here are a few of the sites that I trialled:-
www.bravenet.com This site allows you to have your own free
website yourname.bravenet.com. The tools on this site are
excellent and include a guestbook, message board, web journal
and site counters to name but a few. They also have a website
builder which is very important for the novice user. Great
templates and also easy to use.
www.frandt.com Offers free web hosting yourname.frandt.com.
Another great site with many tools.
www.tictacwebsites.com You can get a 10 day free trial from
this website. Another great site with an abundance of
facilities. If you decide to use them hosting is $20/month.
There are many more hosting services available and a quick
search for free hosting or paid hosting will give you a huge
list. I will recommend that as a novice you start with the free
hosting services. This is some great advice that I would have
loved to receive prior to starting my website.
3. Starting Your Website
Once you have chosen your hosting company the next thing is to
start building your website. Using the site builders is the
best way. You choose your template and then start imputing your
content. Dont worry about getting everything in on the first
attempt, you can always edit your pages as you go along.
If you are intending to put in e-mail forms for subscriptions
or feedback most hosting companies have this in their tools
section. If not you can just create a link to your e-mail
account.
Do not worry about adding pictures and advertisements, these
can all come at a later stage, for now the main priority is to
get your website up and running.
4. Publishing Your Website
Once your website is completed the next stage is to publish it
on the web. Your hosting company will have a facility for this.
This usually involves submitting your website to various search
engines. You may also be required to create keywords and meta
tags. Keywords are words that will be picked up by search
engines and will help generate more traffic for your website.
Try looking for keyword software. Some web hosting companies do
all this for you which are an extra bonus.
Now that you are published on the web you are ready to move on
to the last step.
5. Promoting Your Website
This is where the frustration begins. You have your website,
its on the internet but how do I get people to visit it. There
are numerous ways to get traffic and the internet is full of
ways to do this. Joining a traffic system is probably the best.
I use traffic swarm to promote my website and also instant
buzz. Both of these have really worked for me and have
increased my traffic significantly. Another way is to
advertise, you can place adverts for free but this can be
extremely time consuming has to go to each website
individually. I used adblaster, a great piece of software that
allows me to type my ads and them with the click of just one
button my ads are submitted to over 2500 websites. Ezine
articles are another way of getting people to your site. Check
the ezine directories and submit your articles.
Now that you have the knowledge, why not get started creating
your own website. If you need free advertising I provide it on
my website.
Amanda Evans is the owner and producer of www.amandawrites.com a website dedicated
to helping people achieve their goal of become a writer. Why
not visit and subscribe to our free newsletter.
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