Find an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or IPP (Internet Presence Provider) i.e. a web hosting company, to host your web site. Crystallize a Concept: With 5 main things taken care of, you should be ready for Conceptualization. Some of you will already have a concept or idea for your site, but take a moment and download AffMasters.pdf course from http://aff-masters.sitesell.com/ (copy & paste link in you browser and hit enter). The AffMasters.pdf is free to download. Please read page 35 " Day 2 - Brainstorm Your Site Concept ". I am sure that you will appreciate authors’ approach and find most suitable concept for your site. This course also gives a few pointers about things to avoid in a web site. Make notes and use them as you build your site.

Build your Site: Once you have arrived at a concept, use your HTML Knowledge, HTML Page Creation Tools and ready-made Templates to build web pages. Edit HTML to make visual just right. Load pages with content. Keep in mind that Content is King. Keep page design simple yet elegant. You should Value Content over flashiness. Don't use too much graphics, if you do page will take time to load. Impatient surfers might close their browses and move on.

Publish your Site: To enable surfers to view your web site, you must publish your pages to a server that is connected to Internet i.e. a web server. When you publish a page to a web server, you upload that page on to web server. You can upload pages on server of an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or on server of an IPP (Internet Presence Provider) i.e. a web hosting company. Usually it is better to use an IPP because –

An IPP offers more web space (20 MB free) than an ISP (5 MB).

IPPs usually allow CGI on their servers.

To upload web pages to an ISP server a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client is required. Some IPPs (e.g. NetFirms) also require FTP client to upload files to their servers. However there are IPPs (e.g. FreeServers) that allow you to upload your files directly to their servers without FTP. You should prefer IPPs that do not require an FTP client because it is much convenient and quicker to upload your files using a Site Manager provided by hosting company.

CREDIT:

Webmaster, http://NewsForUse.FreeHosting.net/

To read CONTENT that you will VALUE visit News For Use site.

Whilst it is ok to have one or two special effects to jazz up your website, spinning graphics and logos often distract your visitor from content, not to mention they can take too long to download. Your visitors may click away even before your spinning logo finishes loading.

5. Backgrounds

Ensure your visitors can read text on background, ie. no black writing on dark blue background or yellow on white. Also be careful that your links are visible before and after being visited. The default for links in most programs is blue (before being visited) and burgundy (after being visited), so if you have a dark background, ensure your links are light.

6. External Links

It is a good idea to open links to other websites in a new window. That way your visitors can easily return to your site when they are finished browsing external link

7. Site Map & Search Feature

If you website is more than 15 pages, it is useful to have a site map or a “Search” feature to ensure your visitors can easily find what they’re looking for.

8. Content is King

While it is important that your website looks clean and professional, it is far more important that you concentrate your efforts on content and promotion.

If you want a professional website, things to stay away from include:

1. Flash intros, revolving globes, bevelled line separators, animated mail boxes 2. Loads of pop up or pop under boxes 3. Autoplay music. Allow your customer to play music only if they choose. 4. Hit counters of free variety, which say “you are 27th visitor” 5. Date and time stamps, unless your website is updated daily or weekly 6. Busy backgrounds.

Don’t sweat small stuff and get yourself focussed on what to include on website and best way to promote it. We will cover these topics in future articles.

Ivana Katz is the owner of Websites 4 Small Business, a company specialising in the design and promotion of small and home-based business websites. She believes that every business deserves to have a successful website, no matter what its budget is. For more information visit www.web4business.com.au or email info@web4business.com.au