How to Setup A Website
Define the purpose of your website.
What do you wish to accomplish with your site?
Who will be your "target" audience?
Will you be selling goods &/or services over the web?
Get familiar with the web-design software you
intend to use
Whether it is FrontPage2000, Adobe GoLive, Dreamweaver,
etc.. Even if you contract out the design of your site,
it is a good idea to get familiar with a web design software.
There is no need to buy all the html books in the store
and read them till you are blue in the face. Most popular
design programs will insert the correct html for you if
you know how to use them.
If you are planning on selling goods &/or services
over the web, look for a versatile, customizable, and
easy to use shopping cart system. They range from entering
a few lines of code per item per page (which could be
time consuming) to database driven & managed via a
web-browser. Most hosting companies with an ecommerce
plan will supply you with a shopping cart.
Pick the Domain you want to use
You may think that all the good domain names are taken.
Well think about this. Many of those domain names are
not being renewed! After the slow down in the Internet
boom, many companies are not running those businesses
anymore, so they let their domain name expire. You may
get the domain name you want after all! And if it's not
available, try different variations. Try to pick a domain
name that has your products/services in the name. That
will help with the search engines. And, if you really
want a domain name that is already registered, contact
the owner. Many are willing to sell their domain names
for a song and a dance!
Register Your Domain Name
You can register your domain name anywhere, and prices
vary. Try to pay $20 or less per year. Also, make sure
that you are given a username and password so that you
can edit your domain name information anytime you want
to instead of having to email someone asking them to change
your address, email address, name servers etc.
Choose a Web Hosting Company
There are alot of choices out there but picking the wrong
one can sure be a headache. Look for value, service &
money back guarantees. If you sign up with someone for
a year, what will you do if you discover their service
is no good 2 months down the line? You should be able
to cancel at anytime, and receive a refund on unused months.
Choose a company that has 24/7/365 LIVE support. If you
want to be able to have a question answered, you should
be able to contact your hosting company anytime day or
night. Even on Christmas!
Choose a company that allows you more control over your
site. You don't want to call or email every time you need
to make or add an email to your account. These things
should be easily managed through a control panel accessible
to ONLY you, the administrator.
Look for Value. Many new companies are offering very
low prices for hosting. And they omit the customer support
in order to give you the low price. That is fine for some
people. Just be sure that if you really want that low
price that you are ok with only having email support instead
of chat or toll free phone support. It just depends on
what is valuable to you.
Begin building your site
While looking for a hosting company, start to play around
with the web design software and learn about web design.
Or contract a web designer to design your site for you.
But it is advisable that you learn at least a little bit
about how to edit your own site, in case the web designer
isn't available and you need to change something quickly.
Sign up with the Web Hosting Company
Start your hosting service, set up your email, learn
about their control panel, etc...
Publish your site to the Web
Upload your newly designed site to your your server..
Ask people you trust to look up your new site and have
them look for errors, positive critique is always good.
Once the final review is ready, go public and publish
your new site!
You are now a Web site owner!
Congratulations!! You are now have a presence on the
Web!
Print your domain name on EVERYTHING you can!!
