Build your site
in 9 steps
Article written by Boris Mordkovich of
Echo Web.
So, you
are thinking of doing a site? Great! But do you want to know how to create a
site where visitors will say WOW! Read On.
1. Think of a
topic, idea.
What do you want to make your site
about? When you do this, also think as a visitor and why would you come to your
site? You have to offer something that people want and need. When you'll be
clear about what you want to do, proceed to the next step.
2. You got an
idea of your future site, right.
Is that enough for a site? The answer
is NO. Now you have to think of a layout, colors, and content. Colors are very
important, because if you'll mix the wrong ones, it might be hard for visitor to
read your content, which is the heart of your site, and then he'll leave,
because he knows that there are hundreds of sites like this on the web. It's
recommended to draw your content on a sheet of paper or in an image file.
3. Find a
host.
If you don't want to spend any money,
there are lost of sites that will host your site for free. Although most of them
place a banner or a pop up on your page, which sometimes might look
unprofessional. After all, it's completely free. But if you run a business, you
should get your own http://www.you.com domain. It costs only 70 dollars for two
years, so it's not really that expensive, and it really worth it. To register
visit Internic
4. Start
writing your first page.
You HAVE to know at least basics of
HTML to create a quality site. You don't need to remember all the tags and
formats but you got to know how and what is HTML. Although there are hundreds
WYSIWYG ( What You See Is What You Get) editors, you'll be able to create a
better site with the basic knowledge of HTML. To learn the basics please visit
our tutorial section. I'm telling you to do it, because it's the only way you'll
be able to fix the errors in your site, and trust me you'll have plenty.
Everybody does.
5. Take a look
at your page.
Never forget the following factors: 1.
Does it loads fast? 2. Does your site has an easy navigation? 3. Is you grammar
and spelling is correct? 4. Do you have something that people need or find
useful? These are few of the most important factors in each site. A lot of
people forget about them, and their site becomes... a shame. Even though your
page is one the web, it doesn't mean that you can spell wrong or provide poor
content.
6. Redo your
page!
90% of people after they look at their
first draft find many mistakes. Redo your page and then look at it again. Follow
the step 5. It would be very useful if you would show your page to some friends
or family. They can notice something, that you didn't find. There are some clubs
on Yahoo which specialize on critiquing page. Here's an example: Web Judges.
After you'll do it ask yourself: Do you like what you see?
7. Start
creating all other pages.
Don't get confused in them, and follow
the principle of a tree. It's recommended that all of you page should follow
some basic pattern or format. For example, Echo Web's every single page looks
somewhat similar, right? All of the pages have red bars and black background
with the yellow text.
8. Take a look
at your site.
Repeat step 5. Looks good? Great.
Upload it to your host. Now it's the time for you to start promoting your site.
Otherwise, how will people are going to be able to find it? Visit our tutorials
section for a special two-part tutorial on how to promote your web site. It got
many tips and tricks that you won't find anywhere else.
9. You
finished with all 8 steps.
Now you are waiting for visitors to
come. Does it means that you are done with the web site? That you can forget
about it? Once again, NO. The web site is a cycle. It's not a newspaper which
you publish once and then forget it. People will start coming to your site for a
while, but the point is to keep them coming back. How to do that? Update your
site at least once in two weeks, have something useful and interesting on your
site.
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