A quick guide to start your first website

Plan Your Website Before You Start Building It

There are plenty of advantages to building your own business Web site. You can save money, get your website up and running more quickly and even have some fun along the way. Below are the main points to take into consideration of how to go about it:

Create a plan - Think about the types of information and services you want on your website. Do you want to publish just your address, phone number and business hours? Do you want to give your customers a way to email you directly from your site? Do you want to list products and services offered by your company?

Outline your website - Chart it out - Design your website the old-fashioned way? with pencil and paper. Start with your website home page and then decide how many additional pages you need and what types of information to include on them. When you are done, your diagram should look like a pyramid, with each level of pages providing more specific information. Remember, less is usually more when you're getting started. You can always go back and expand your site later.

Build the pages - your home page first - If you are building your own website, you should know that Web pages are created in HTML? HyperText Markup Language. Basic HTML is easy to learn; you can teach yourself using a book or a website. You can also buy a Web authoring tool that allows you to build pages without actually working with HTML. Reference are given on other pages for HTML tutorials and website builders. Find a good website builder or HTML editor.

Add the links - internal and external - Hyperlinks hold your website together, allowing visitors to move from one page to another. You can also include links to other websites. Be sure to design your links so people can navigate your website without getting lost. You should always give people an easy way to go back the way they came.

Add images - You will probably want to spice up your website with images and other graphics. As a rule, a few images go a long way; add too many and your website will look ugly and cluttered. Your images should not be so large that people downloading them will get frustrated and leave your website. Working with graphics might require special software, although a number of free and low-cost graphics applications are available.

Find a Host - Once your website is done, you will need a hosting service where you can park your just created website. Some hosts are free, but most charge a small monthly fee.

Maintain your website - Your website might be published, but you are not done yet! Nothing looks worse than an old, outdated website. Be sure to update your website regularly to include recent news and announcements. Also remember to proofread your website carefully; misspelled words on your website make your business look unprofessional.

How much should you expect to pay for the basic services needed to support your website? The cost of a website will vary widely depending on the kind of website you have.

Our Guide to Web Hosting Services gives you an overview of the choices in how you "serve" your site. The guide explains the features and extra services offered by Web hosting services and introduces the cost structure of those options.

If you do have to hire a website building service, Boutique Web designs below can help you create your website. However, I would suggest strongly to do it yourself. Try Voda Utilities and see how easy it is to create a website.