1) Proofread Spelling and Grammar! This is an absolute must. Proofread all your copy at least twice, and if possible have another person read through it as well. A pair of fresh eyes may often pick up on mistakes that you have missed. If you publish copy with typos and poor grammar, what kind of impression is that going to leave? (That said, hopefully you won't find any typos in this article!)

2) Make it easy to scan This is important, especially since most read users dislike reading large blocks of text. Try to break page up into key points or bullets that will allow for faster reading and make it easier to digest. Avoid overdoing bolding of text-the point of bold font is to highlight a select few points, not every second line! As a general rule, only title of article and perhaps subheadings should be bold. Likewise, avoid overuse of underlining or italics. 3) Multiple Pages Internet users are turned off by long pages that require a large amount of scrolling. If you have to post long articles or content, split it up into multiple pages. Splitting content over multiple pages also encourages user to read through smaller, manageable chunks, since they seem much less daunting. I have already mentioned that people will read less on screen than in print. In addition, studies have shown that people read 25% slower onscreen than they do on paper. This means that you should make your content at least 25% shorter than a print version-so edit!

Now it's up and running and I'm at last very pleased with it. It's bringing in business, just like it's supposed to. But it was a bumpy road. Let me share some learning with you.

Time required Creating your own website takes time - a month or two from 'go'. That's elapsed time, not 250 hours of labor. It's for reading manuals, learning new software, planning, making choices, not being able to move forward until someone returns a phone call, as well as building it. Keeping it going and updated takes at least another 5 hours a week.

Planning mandatory Scheme out as much of your site as you can before you start putting it together. Every hour of real planning time will save you at least one day undoing mistakes and rethinking things later.

Money needed Budget $500-$1000, assuming you already have an Internet-ready computer. This covers registration fees, reference books, software and rinky dinks like having to hire a programming maven to polish up an interactive component you just can't get to work on your own.

How do you want your site to look and feel? As you surf web, ask yourself: "Does this site really knock me out? Is there something I could emulate? Is this kind of look I want?" If yes, bookmark it and make a file of preferences. Then you'll have some benchmarks to work with. But before you begin, ask yourself these questions: