Five Steps to Creating Your Own Web Site

1. Pre-Plan Your Site

* What is the major theme of my site?

The answer is NOT "to make lots of money". You want to keep a central focus on getting visitors to your site that are *interested* in your product or service. Unless your site is "Bob's Used Stuff" you'll want to avoid looking like a flea market. 

* Who are my visitors?

Your visitors are your Target Group. Take time to understand who your visitors are and what their needs are. 

* How will I capture the attention of my visitors?

You'll have only a few seconds to show your visitors that they're in the right place. Come up with answers to the following questions your visitors will ask about your site...

      - Who are you? 
      - What is your site about? 
      - What do you have for me? 
      - Why should I stay and browse your site? 
 

2. Lay Out a Basic Site Design on Paper

Start with your home page. Keep it simple and don't be afraid of white space. Make sure your content adheres to your answers in step 1. Then draw out a few pages to link from your home page. These might include a Products page, FAQ page, Order page, and so on. Don't let your page get confusing. Remember to keep it simple. 
 

3. Put Your Design On Your Computer

This can be quite intimidating for the new webmaster. But there are tools made just for us by the "smart ones." It's a good idea to use a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) design program. 

There are several programs to choose from that are suitable for the beginner.

 
4. Choose a Company to Host Your Site

Your host will keep your pages on their computer. A good host will keep a 24 hour connection to the web with phone lines that operate at fast speeds. 

How do you select a good host for your site? 

There are many places to get a Website for Free. They usually come with advertising of some sort to pay the bills. The cost of getting your own domain name and your own Website is not that great.

In addition to reliable and fast connections to the web, you should insist on a host with support services. Simply put, when you call or email with a problem, they have a solution. There's nothing worse than a host that can't come through in a pinch.

Find a few sites that you like and email the webmaster. ASK Questions! If they offer a host plan check out which "server" they use. See if they are offering the same host that they use themselves!
WhoIs Lookup

5. Transfer Your Pages

This is accomplished with an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program. Sounds scary but it's a pretty harmless procedure. It's a program that simply uploads the files that you need to build your web page.

Check out the FTP and other file transfer programs listed HERE.