6 Steps to Creating A Web Site

The number of people who have access to the Internet is growing every day. It has now become ensure you have your own space on the Internet – whether it be for business, or personal use.

But First, HTML Explained

Web sites are written in a variety of programming language, the most common being HTML. HTML is essentially words and symbols written a certain way that allows your Internet browser (such as Internet Explorer) to view the HTML coding in the way that it has been formatted.

Just as Microsoft Word is used creating letters and other documents, there are similar programs for creating web sites in this environment. These include Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Frontpage and Adobe Go Live. These programs allow you to type in text and include images on the pages and they do all the hard work of programming the HTML for you.

1. Ask yourself (and others) what is the purpose of your web site?

Before you dive in and start thinking about structure, content and images on the site, the best thing to do is to think about the purpose of your web site. Whether it be for a personal or a business web site, the purpose of the site is very important.

Consider the different purposes a business web site can take:

2. Plan what you are going to include on your web site.

Your web site should have an easy to use structure to it – that makes it clear where people should click depending on what information they are looking for. To structure you web site properly, first think about the content you would like to include in the web site.

Ask yourself:

3. Set out the structure of your web site.

Now that you have determined your content, you need to structure this content in an easy to use manner. If you are having problems structuring the content of your web site, try to review the content as a whole, and collect groups of information that relate to each other. Then put this information in the same section.

There are often basic sections of a web site that gives users familiarity and understanding when searching a web site. Although you want to be creative and different, you don’t want to stray too much from the norm, because if users find your site difficult to navigate or confusing, they will just click somewhere else.

Some usual headings that business sites use include:

I’m not suggesting you use all of these headings, but this gives you a rough idea of the sections included in a common web site. Under these main sections are then sub-sections and so on, until all the content is provided.

4. Design your site.

Now it’s time to design the look and feel of your site. For businesses especially, it’s best to keep your web site in the same style as all the rest of your marketing material.

If you don’t know what that is – lay all your marketing material out on a desk. This includes your letterhead, business cards, brochures, invoices and any other information you hand out to customers and suppliers alike. Once you can see the overall style of your marketing material, you can design your web site to have the same ‘feel’.

Try to produce a web site template that is the same throughout your site. Web visitors like consistency – so try and use the same basic colours and format throughout.

5. Create your Web Site.

Here comes the fun part. Create your web site using images, text and even effects to give it that creative touch. At this point, all your previous planning pays off, and once you have the planning completed, the creating doesn’t take long.

6. Market Your Web Site

When web sites are created, it’s important to keep in mind that you also need to market your web site. After all, a web site is created to be seen! There are many ways in which to market your web site, and you don’t have to spend a fortune.

Here are some hints to get started:

- Make domain names easy to remember and type.

- If your customers are in the local community, you may want to register a .com.au domain name, otherwise international sites are often .com.

- Try to make sure your domain name isn't too long - although you can use up to 67 characters in length, it's probably best not to.

- Try to stay away from hyphens, as they can be some disadvantages.

- Registering one domain name is usually sufficient, but some businesses register a few domain names and link them to our main computer.