Web-Development Online News Articles Information

Building Your First Website in 7 Steps

Knowing what to do when building your first website is one of the things most people just starting out find the hardest. In lots of places you will find loads of information on web design that start you right in the middle. But what to do when you don't know where to start? When first starting out you just haven't got a clue and your eager to know because the idea of getting on the net for your own personal satisfaction of for getting your business out there where anyone looking can find it can really increase your revenue.

The Basic Steps to Publishing your first web site:

1. Create the HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language a.k.a. HTML, allows you to see the format of the page. Tags in the source of the page tells the browser how to display the page on the screen. But not all browsers are created equal they will display the page differently but for the most part the page will look pretty much the same. Some programs do not use the same color pallets, that changes the way a page is displayed in the browser. Also some people change the way they see the web pages on their own systems to increase speed of pages loading to their screens, so they will see a page differently.

2. Obtain or create graphic images and add to your page. Images you created yourself ie:photos you have taken digitally or traditionally (35mm). Or you can visit sites where people share images here you can either buy images and in some places get them for free. And use programs like paint shop to create your own or edit the images you purchase off of graphic sites.

3. Link the graphics using HTML tags to your page this way they appear where you want them to. The quality of the image effects loading time to your page so if possible keep the images small then create a link to where the image can be viewed on it's own larger if the viewer decides they want to view it in more detail. Doing this keeps people from exiting your page due to slow loading.

4. Preview your page in your web browser and other browsers, see how it looks to you. sometimes you see it with rose colored glasses, leave it for a day and come back and view it again the next day. Are you still happy with the way it looks?

5. Find a space on a web server a.k.a. host. If its a personal site that is not too big you can go to GeoCities, Google Page Creator, or AOL.com in any of these places you can post a personal website however there is a limit what you can do on the service because it is free. If you go beyond what they allow they will remove your site. Read the agreement, and follow their rules. For business sites you will want to find paid hosting. This can really differ in price depending on the web host and the package you choose. Take some time when doing this you want to know what you will be getting for your money. Look around, compare services and prices if a host doesn't have a feature you need keep looking. If the package they offer looks great type in "Hosting + Review" into a search and see what other people are saying about the service. You can also set up your own private server but that takes a lot of technical know how and if it is something that you really want to consider there are many pit falls to but also a great number of bonuses way the pros and cons.

6. Use File Transfer Protocol a.k.a. FTP to transfer your HTML files and Graphic files to the web server. Always remember to have your files marked as "public_.html" otherwise they will not be any good on the server, if you make a mistake some tech help on your host could fix the problem but it's best to learn how to do it yourself.

7. Get online. Check to see that your web site is working properly. Click the links on you site to make sure they are work and get take you exactly where you had intended them to. Broken links frustrate visitors or guests (as I like to call them) to your site and what will hurt more is that the spiders (or web crawlers) that come to index your pages really don't like links that don't work and could be penalize your site for it.

By using these seven steps you will have your first web site up and running in a short amount of time. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it and if you do your research. Remember not to just throw the pages together because they will not serve you well if you do. Happy surfing.

By: Elizabeth Albekeit

http://www.ultimatesitetools.com

Want to learn more about getting the most out of your web site or find tips for building your first web site? Check out Ultimate Site Tools for your web site basics and beyond. Need some help with HTML check out Getting Hyper with HTML.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_Albekeit

Labels: Building Your First Website in 7 Steps