goodly designs for the average tasteful chapTips for Beginning Websites
When it comes to making a website, there's a lot you need to know! Hopefully I'll be able to help you out with this guide if you're creating or already have.
Your Domain Name
Your site's success may be affected by how it's hosted and what your domain name is (what you're website is called).
Purchasing a professional .net, .org, or .com domain name probably isn't a good idea for you when you're starting out. First off, it costs money, so you'll probably need a credit card, which you may or may not have. Secondly, you don't know if the site will work out, so if it dies shortly after you buy your domain, then you just wasted your money. And third and finally, you don't need a .com to have a great site. However, once your site is established, you might want to switch over.
In the meantime, you need to create a site somewhere. There are lots of options you have. Here are some websites that will host your own website.
Webs.com
Webs provides templates and easy to use interface for creating a site, but they also allow you to create HTML or CSS layouts, which I recommend if you're making a site. However, they do not permit .php files which a necessary for any serious website owner. If you choose to use Webs, your domain will be http:/yoursitename.webs.com/
Zymic.com
Zymic is my hosting service. Creating an account with Zymic allows you to have as many websites as you want and up to five MySQL databases per site. Zymic also has a forum where you can search for the answers of any questions you have, or ask your own. Zymic has tutorials in photoshop, CSS, HTMP, PHP and more too. If you choose to use Zymic, your domain name can be any of the following:
- yoursitename.zxq.net
- yourstiename.99k.org
- yoursitename.zymichost.com
- yoursitename.clanteam.com
- yoursitename.zzl.org
Masking your domain
The website freedomain.co.nr offers a well-liked service that will cover up the actual address of your site, giving you the domain yoursitename.co.nr. Lots of people use this free service, and if you want an easy to remember domain, you may want to consider. However, be aware that if say, you go to another page, the domain does not change to yoursite.co.nr/page2.php or something like that. This is a little inconvenient if you want to link to a page without revealing your site's true domain.
Choosing a Website Name
Originality is a key factor. I've noticed that there are a bazillion sites that have the word neo in them...Emporer's-Village-Neo, Neosnow, Aqua Neo, Neo-Reality, Cloudyneo, Neocrave, Erased-Neo (No offense to those site intended.)...On one affiliate list I found over twenty neo names. Yes, they're all awesome sites, but they could use a tad more originality in their naming! Sure, they're neo-related, but you really want to stand out from the crowd and give your visitors a reason to choose you over the other sites.
Try to get the site name to express yourself if possible. Are you spastic? Name it Noodlepower. Do you absolutely love unhealthy stuff? Name your site Corn Syrup. Be original. Originality pwns.
Making a layout
There are some basic rules that often times go unsaid, but just because violations of the rules frustrate the cheese out of me, I'll write them all down here. In case you don't understand what I just said, make sure your layout follows these rules. Or else.
- Don't use colors that clash. No one will return to your site ever again.
- Use no more than three fonts in your layout. Additionally, they should all be similar. For example, bad=Stencil, Curlz MT, and Comic Sans. Good=Stencil, Impact, verdana.
- Make the text look neat. I'd advise making it as small as you can while still reading it easily. I'd also advise using the font verdana, arial, or helvetica.
- Have a color scheme. Rainbow=eh...Make sure you do a good job of rainbow or it will look BAD. Other color schemes are neutral colors (tan, brown, white, black), warm colors (pink, red, purple), or cool colors (green, teal, blue). Or you could use all light colors or all dark colors.
Adding Content
Add content at your own pace. This mainly applies to graphics sites, since I think some sites want to be able to say they update their site four times a week, so they simply whip together something that isn't that great.
This isn't necessary. Let's say you want to be affiliates with a site that wants you to update your site four or more times a week. I personally believe they'd be more likely to accept the application of a site that updates twice a week with quality content than one that updates ten times with one ugly background each time.
Choosing co-owners
Though at first you may not realize how essential co-owners are, eventually you will. Most co-owners have almost as much power as the owner, or even as much. Also, if you ever choose to leave your site, then guess who's now the owner?
Before you decide whether to give someone the title, you should consider the following.
- Does the potential co-owner have a passion for the site?
- What would they do if they became owner?
- Would they be ready to lead the site right now if I left?
- Do I trust them enough to give them my passwords?
- Are there any other people (at the site) who I trust more than them?
- Are there any other people (at the site) who contribute more frequently?
- How long have I known this person?
Make sure you're really certain before you assign your co-owner his or her position. If you've made the right choice, many happy years of website running may follow.
