Archive for August, 2008
8 Steps To Web Site Designing
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When designing a website there are 8 main steps you should always follow and understand. When you come to understand these 8 steps you will begin to start enjoying web site designing.
So, let’s get started at web site designing:
1. Layout – the layout of your site is important, it is important to keep your background white and lettering black this makes it easier to read for your visitors.
2. User Friendly – your site also needs to be user friendly, this simply means that when someone comes to your website, they will be able to find things easily without having to second guess links and buttons.
3. Content – the foundation of your website and success is your content, you need to take extra credit when it comes to writing content for your web site designing. Also try to keep it interesting and informative to keep your customers coming back to learn more. You should always have a way for people to opt into for a free report or ebook so you can capture their information and start building a list.
4. Search Engine Optimization – it is important that your site be search engine friendly by using keyword research and implementing keywords in appropriate places.
5. Meta Tags – these tags are invisible to the normal viewer but are essential to helping you rank with search engines. It is important you know what your meta tags are and using them wisely
6. Domain name – choosing a domain name can mean the difference between success or failure with your website. Choosing the wrong domain name can definitely hurt you. For example, if you were web site designing for dogs you wouldn’t want a domain name referring to cars.
7. Sitemap – putting a sitemap on your web site is always a good idea, as it helps with search engines to find you. It also can make finding things on your site easier for your customers. You can do this a few different ways, you can list all your pages on your sitemap, or you can put some articles relating to your website, either way it is a good idea to put a sitemap on your website.
8. Support – if your website will have customers you need to consider setting up a professional support system so customers can easily contact you or your staff with their questions, both before a sale and after a sale.
Keeping these 8 steps in mind while designing your website you will be on your way to having a good web site designing technique. One of the things I’ve learned is to keep your simple and clean, don’t get carried away with putting a bunch of banners and flashy things up, it only distracts your visitors from doing what they came to your site to do, either buy from you or sign up for your service or product.
So keep it simple and clean!
As always please leave your comments or questions below, Happy designing!
Web Hosting – Do You Need it
Posted by: | CommentsWhen it comes to deciding to putting a website online, there are things that most don’t seem to think about. Web Hosting is one of them. In order to have a website you must have it hosted. Now what does this really mean?
Think of it in these terms – getting web hosting is the small as renting a home or apartment. Your new website needs to live somewhere
You are basicly paying for your hosting the same way you pay your rent or mortgage each month. It is a necessity.
Web hosting, just like any apartment or house, you can get it with all the bells and whistles or with nothing at all.
It doesn’t matter at all how big or small your website will be or become, you Must have web hosting. This also gives you your own email address associated with your domain name.
In my other post/article I talked about the 6 features of hosting and what to look for, but the most important thing you must make sure your web hosting provider has is tech support. You are going to need it. Even if you know a lot about hosting and the programming end, there are times when things are just out of your control and you must speak with them.
The most important thing you need to do is research, not all web hosting companies are same and offer the same support or features. As most hosting companies do offer email addresses, and ftp access, some actually do not give you access to a cpanel or provide the greatest support.
On the web today more and more people are turning to Blogs, and for good reasons, if you wish to have a blog on your website you need to make sure that you have access to your cpanel where you can install your blog free.
I for one have been around for a long time now and have had many web hosting providers, I still find Hostgator to one of the best online. They have outstanding support, one time I had an issue with them at 10pm PST and I called them, (they are 3 hours ahead of me) you know what, a real live person answered the phone, and within minutes fixed my problem 
I strongly recommend too that you avoid the free hosting companies out there, they just aren’t reliable and there is usually no support available for you. Also, as you build your website and need more bandwidth or space, they don’t provide it unless you upgrade and start paying for it. Why do this when you can just get good reliable web hosting to start out with.
In close, just remember that if you want your website to be live online where others can find you then consider getting web hosting that you can count on.
Laura
from Laurasbasicstowebdesign
Beginners making a web page
Posted by: | CommentsToday I want to talk about beginners making a web page. It seems more and more folks are coming online and realizing they need a website. This can be very overwhelming and confusing to most beginners. For beginners making a web page there are a few things they need to keep in mind.
For starters it is not Hard to do at all.
Second they don’t need to know or even understand things like HTML, and tags, and things that are way above their heads. There are tons of software out there that will take care of this for them, and most are free to get.
Beginners should also know the market/niche they are going to build a website around, having this information will make designing the site much easier.
Tools, so many think they Have to go out and get Dreamweaver or Frontpage to build a website, well this just isnt so, there are other software programs that will work just as good and at no cost.
Remember too you are not only building your website you are building your business and you have to understand there are going to be costs involved just not as much as you think.
One place I strongly recommend you check out is The Faster WebMaster by Erik Stafford, he has outstanding tutorials and videos walking you from the beginning to the very end with your business!
Let’s take a close look at what you will be spending to put a website online, not a business, a website. The first thing you have to acquire is a domain name and I highly recommend www.godaddy.com besides the price is right at around $10.00 a Year the support is outstanding.
Next you are going to need hosting, there is so much out there to choose from no wonder people get all confused and just grab the first one they come across, but you have to make sure of a few things. Like they have outstanding support, you have access to your cpanel, and you can upgrade when necessary. The one I’ve been using for years now that fits all this and much is Hostgator they are the best I’ve seen and believe me I’ve been through some hosting companies.
To begin with it should only cost you around $4.95 bucks a month.
As for a FTP (file transfer program) no cost
As for an HTML editor, no cost
So let’s see here, looks like for about $70.00 a Year you can get started!!
Just think you can have a website up and running in just a few days at the most for around $70 a Year. Can;t beat that for cheap now can you?
So for the beginners making a web page, don’t be overwhelmed and scared, it’s not as hard as you think or expensive, the key here is Just Do It!!!!
Learn Basics to writing HTML Code with this video
Posted by: | CommentsWatch this video below from JimmyR.com, he gives clear and simple instructions to the basics to writing html code. This is the easiest it gets folks!
I really hope you enjoyed this video from jimmyr.com.Using html code and css is easy once you know the codes. Don't be afraid of it and don't let that fear stop you from learning the basics to writng html code.
I hope this article has helped and please do pick up a copy of the Introduction to the Basics to Web Design it is a must have.
3 Simple Steps To Follow to Build a Website
Posted by: | CommentsI 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 graps this one great resource is Introduction to the Basics of Web Design
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.
So with that, I hope you will take this to heart and follow this advice and go pick up that ebook it will walk you through step by step on how to build a website – http://www.laurasbasicstowebdesign.com/ebook
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