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Web Design Articles
7 Effective Ways to Build Your Web Site
Herman Drost - 27 October 2003
isitebuild@aol.com http://www.isitebuild.com Running a business without building
a web site, is like a fish swimming in a small pond. The fish needs a vehicle to
reach the ocean. If you are a small business person who wants to reach millions
quickly and easily, building a web site is a necessity. There are many ways to
build a website but Ill just give you an overview of the most popular ones.
Before you begin to build your web site, register a domain first (read my
article "How to choose, register or transfer domain names"
www.isitebuild.com/domainnames.htm). This means you are serious about your
business.
1.Web Site Templates - Free and Paid This is a quick and simple way to design
your site without spending a dime. With a free web site template, you can add
text and graphics and host it on a free web host.
Free - these will give you a quick and simple design. www.freesitetemplates.com
www.steves-templates.com
Paid Templates - generally these provide better looking designs.
www.templates2go.com www.thetemplatestore.com
Pros - quick set-up, saves time on design time. Cons - lack of uniqueness and
flexibility, not custom built to suit your business.
2. ISP Site Builders Some ISPs provide site building software as part of their
package i.e. AOL, Bigstep.com.
Pros - "all-in-one" package, no html required. This may consist of
just site building (AOL), or a combination of site building, hosting, search
engine submissions and newsletter management (Bigstep) for one monthly fee. Cons
- template pages, page links generically named, pages cant be individually
optimized for search engines.
3. Learn HTML This will allow you to build your web site from scratch and have
total control over any changes you may wish to make.
Pros - total control, flexibility, inexpensive (you can even use the text
editor, notepad, that comes with your computer). Cons - steep learning curve to
become proficient, takes a lot of time to change hundreds of pages.
4. Use Web Editing Tools There are two kinds of web site editors. a) HTML
Editors - these will help you with writing and editing your html (i.e.
automating repetitive tags and color coding the different tags used).
Macromedia Homesite (www.macromedia.com/software/homesite) www.coffeecup.com
www.notetab.com
b) WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editors These graphical editors will
help you to design a professional looking web site after a lot of practice. Here
are the two most popular editors. These editors also allow you to see the code
as you design your site. You can also manipulate the code within the editor.
Dreamweaver MX (www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver) Frontpage
(www.microsoft.com/frontpage)
Pros - complete control over the design and maintenance of your website, can
write or edit code as you please, maintain hundreds of pages, many useful
features. Cons - can be expensive, learning curve, some WYSIWYG editors add
unnecessary code, creating bloated web pages.
5. Browser Software Netscape Composer (www.netscape.com) Netscape has always had
a basic Web page editor built-in. Netscape 7s version of Composer fills a huge
gap at the lower end of the market for WYSIWYG editors and still has something
useful for the more experienced designer.
Pros - free, easy to use Cons - some learning curve needed, lack of features and
integration with graphics software, when compared with other high-end web design
editors.
6. SiteBuildIt (http://quicktour.sitesell.com/webselling83.html) This is an
all-in-one system of tools to build, host and promote your web site. It includes
one year of:
Domain name registration Web Site Hosting Graphic Tools (LogoCreator and NavBar
creator) Search Engine Optimization Automatic Search Engine Submission and
Re-submission Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Research Traffic Stats and Click
Analysis E-zine Subscription and Delivery Cost: approx $300/year
Pros - all-in-one solution for creating, promoting and analyzing your web site,
no need to learn html, add your own text and graphics. Cons - use of template
generated web pages, lack of business uniqueness, limited flexibility over html
code, expensive.
7. Professsional Web Site Designer If you choose a professional web designer,
make sure he has the qualifications and at least several years experience
designing web sites. Take a look at his portfolio to give you some idea of the
sites that have already been designed. (Read my article "How to Choose a
Web Site Designer" (www.isitebuild.com/webdesignerarticle.htm).
Pros Working with a specialist in designing and optimizing websites.
Professional image for your business Years of experience building, optimizing
and promoting web sites. Saves time - leaves you time to concentrate on building
your business while the technical aspects and maintenance of your web site is
taken care of.
Cons
Can be expensive You have less control (must work with your designer).
Recommendations Do-it-yourself If you want to build it yourself and have the
time to do it, then learn some html and invest in a professional web editor.
Learning html will enable you know whats wrong with your site (particularly when
a web site editor doesnt write proper html or adds unnecessary tags). The editor
is very helpful if you have to maintain a large web site that contains hundreds
of pages.
If you dont have much time and wish to do-it-yourself without learning html,
then download a web template.
If you dont want to learn html and want an all-in-one solution for building,
hosting, promoting and web traffic analysis, then SiteBuiltIt is a great way to
go.
Hiring a Professional Web Site Designer This will save you a lot of time instead
of doing it yourself. You can also be assured of having a professionally
designed web site built to reflect your business. A good web designer will know
how to build a web site that sells, which is the ultimate goal for your
business.
About the Author
Herman Drost is a Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) and owner of iSiteBuild.com
Site Design, Hosting, Promotion
:To contact online see details below.
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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com
Affordable Web Site Design and Low Cost Web
Hosting
Subscribe to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter for more original
articles. subscribe@isitebuild.com.
You can read more
of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles
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