How to design a webiste
Setting up a website is simpler than you think, and is a powerful way to get word out about yourself or your organization. Earlier in the history of the internet, building a website required enlisting a professional, with a degree in website design. But times are changing, and the market of website creation is shifting in favor of the typical internet surfer, who is a consumer and not a producer of computer software. This article will outline the basic steps involved in building a website. Build a Blueprint Building your own website for the first time can feel a little like driving without a map, in a foreign country. But with a little planning and organization, you will be able to stay in control, and design a beautiful website that attracts many visitors. Decide early on what information you want to provide to usersMake a sketch of how you want your website to appear, including your homepage and all sub-pages. Are you creatinga personal blog, an online portfolio or a promotional website for your business? the more time spent considering your website’s design, the smoother the site production will be. Choosing A Name for Your Site A domain name is the webaddress used in an internet browser, to locate your website. Domain name are also called URLs, and are the words that come after http://. Picking your domain name is an extremely important step in creating your own website, so choose wisely. You want your domain name to be simple and straightforward. Keep it short, and catchy. It is also recommended that you use keywords in your domain name, or words that describe yourself or your business. Switching domain names further down the road will confuse your visitors, so it’s wise to invest time up front picking a great name that will be easy to remember and represents your site. Select a Hosting Provider Web host service providers make it so that your website can be accessed by anyone, at any time, from anywhere. Many large companies have their own servers, but it is also easy for an individual to have his/her website hosted. There are thousands of private web hosting providers on the web. Some advertise different features than others to persuade customers to select them, but above all else, you want hosting service that is reliable. You want a hosting service with servers that won’t crash, and is protected by a firewallWhat’s most important is that the servers won’t crash, leaving your visitors with blank screens when trying to locate a page on your site. Hosting uptime refers to the amount of time a host is available, and most hosting providers aim to provide a 99.9% uptimeThere’s nothing more frustrating to a new website visitor than a web page that cannot be seen due to server issues. Typically, hosting companies will provide free domain name registration and the option to cancel after a month. HTML , Flash Coding and Quick Fixes Websites have been created using a coding language called HTML since the beginning of the internet. Yet recently Flash has gradually started to replace HTML as the premier website platform. Flash provides an immersive experience to website visitors, and is much more engaging than standard HTML . Flash coding is however more sophisticated than basic HTML coding, and is not as easy to learn. The good news is, there are a few companies that let users build Flash websites without having to learn code. Wix.com actually invented a free website tool that allows users to build Flash websites that are search-engine friendlyWix produced a fantastically simple platform that lets users with no computer knowledge at all, to create a website using Flash. The company’s own web design was built with the platform. Users can choose from a huge gallery of free templates and make their own Flash websiteswithout entering in any coding at all. Wix’s hosting is free for unpaid user accounts, which are saved on the company’s own servers. Gather Competitive Intelligence Before you make your own website, see what is offered by others in your industry. Benchmarking is a very important element of web design, and is not only limited to your website’s early stages. As you build your website and update it, continue to benchmark. Go to search engines such as Google or Yahoo!, and type in keywords that would be used to locate your website. Conduct a few searches, each with different keywords, since not everyone searches with the same terms. You can also search for your competitor’s websites by name, and see what sort of standards are being set for your niche. Study your competition, and think of ways to offer something better. Using Keywords To Build Traffic To Your Website Getting your site noticed by others is the goal behind this entire operation. Using appropriately placed keywords in your website’s content can ignite your website’s popularity with search engines. When someone enters in a search in Google, the words they use are known as “keywords”Keywords are words or phrases that a user types into a search engine, to bring up relevant websites. So how do you pickselect good keywords for your website? Think of what words and phrases are related to your website, that people are likely to use in a search. There are many services you can use that will helpwith your keyword selection, but Google has an excellent one for free with Google AdWords. Build Your Website for Your Target Market It is much easier to express yourself clearly when you know who you’d like to be listening. Envision your ideal business clientele, or website visitor, and imagine what they might expect to find when they visit you. Will your visitors expect conversational, formal or technical language? Also consider what actions you’d like your visitors to perform, once they’ve viewed your website. Do you want them to buy products, provide contact information, or subscribe to a service? Once you understand exactly who your target market is, you can build a website with a clear focus, and tailor it so that it suits their unique needs and expectations. Becoming a Website Creator You are now a bit closer to becoming a website builder than you were before. Using these basic tips should help clear up the confusion about how to make a website. Remain focused, plan out your design before getting started, and make a website that will catapult you or your business into online stardom



