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Have no fear, website designing can be easy
– if you have the determination and patience to learn. Be
forewarned, though, it is not just a matter of clicking the mouse.
You must have that competitive spirit and drive to fulfill
something that others have already done. That’s the only thing
you need — confidence in your capability. If they were able to
do it, so can you.
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The first
step is to take advantage of available resources within your
reach! Your county library has bookshelves of books about web
designing that you can peruse. Browse and select the ones that you
can easily understand. Here is a list of some books that we found
helpful:
1. Create
FrontPage2000 Web Pages in a Weekend, by Lisa Wagner
2. Create
FrontPage2000 Web Pages In a Weekend, by David Karlins
3. Build a Web
Site the Lazy Way, by Kathryn Toyer
4. Complete
Idiot’s Guide to FrontPage 2000, by Elizabeth Parker
5. Creating
Web Pages for Dummies by Bud E. Smith, Arthur Bebak
6. Building
Better Web Pages, by Rebecca Rohan
7. Complete
Idiot’s Guide to Creating Web Pages, 4th edition, by
Paul McFedries
8. Web Design
in a Nutshell: A Desktop Reference, by Jennifer Niederst, Richard
Koman
9. Web Style
Guide-Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites, by Patrick
J. Lynch, Sarah Horton
10. Designing
Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity, by Jakob Nielsen
Use these
books as your guide, while you practice making your websites
through the age-old process of trial and error. After a few days
and nights, you will be on your way to completing your very own
website. (You will not even
believe that you made it!).
Learning the
process and actually doing the website to your satisfaction may
take several days, even weeks. Don’t believe anyone who tells you
that you can do everything in one weekend, unless of course
you are a graphic artist, a computer expert, or a genius. Like
everything, learning takes time. You may not be happy with the
first result, but do not be disheartened.
Keep on revising, experimenting and tinkering with all the
buttons until you are fully satisfied. Believe me, website
creation is a never-ending process even when you have already gone
live. You will need to make changes to it as your pages increase,
as you add new features, or as a response to suggestions and
criticisms made by your visitors.
Remember:
being satisfied yourself does not necessarily mean that other
people
will be as impressed with it as you are!
I remember the first website I created. I was so proud of
it; but looking back at it now makes me cringe with embarrassment
(no wonder I never sold anything from that website). It was
horrible! Make it a point to show your finished website to your
relatives and friends and ask for their honest opinion. Their
early feedback could help you make the necessary changes, before
you announce it to the whole world.
If you are
yet unsure of the effectiveness of the website design that you
created, yet you want to see it go live, we recommend that you use
one of those free web hosting services.
Don’t worry about having a very long and sometimes
annoying URL address; this is just to test your site anyway. And
the reason for this is that we want to stretch the dollars left in
your start-up fund box.
There are
several dot.coms that offer free web hosting, such as Tripod,
BeSeen, Yahoo Geocities, among others. Tripod
provides one of the shortest URL address and has eliminated the
annoying pop-up window that opens everytime you open a page.
Tripod also allows you to manage your own website and make as many
changes as you want anytime. Except for the URL address that comes
with a “tripod.com”, you now have a real website to view.
The goal of
beta-testing your site before announcing it to the whole world is
to check whether your site, as presently crafted, can help you
attain your objectives. It is basically like having a dry run of
the actual operation, without the costs of the monthly web hosting
fees. You can also check whether your hyperlinks are working,
analyze the image that you are presenting through the use of your
colors, backgrounds and fonts.
Moreover, with this trial site, getting your friends to
visit the site, make comments and suggestions will be much easier.
In addition, this process will make you proficient in uploading
your program and being your own Webmaster when the time comes.
With your
live website, spend time analyzing it.
See it from a strangers’ point-of-view. Is this a site
that you would want to spend a lot of time in and bookmark? Or is
this a site that I will never ever come back?
Make your own objective comments and critique the site
yourself. Then make changes again and again – the lay-out, the
colors, the font, the copy. You can also join discussion forums
and post announcements about your new site and invite others to
visit and comment on your site. Learn to filter through the
diplomatic pat-in-the-back comments given. Work on the criticisms.
DON’T
attempt to promote your site as yet as it can jeopardize your
operations (and possibly your reputation) when you establish your
real website. Always remember that this is a trial site and most
of the activities you will perform here are supposed to be your
actual hands-on training to become a real Webmaster.
You might be
tempted to forget your plan to have a web hosting company and may
want to stay FREE. Fine! You will have drawbacks though.
The main concern will be your credibility. With a URL
address like http://www.yourname/linemainstream/ID1234567?/index.htm
the immediate perception is that you cannot afford to pay a web
hosting company or someone who is not really serious about the
Internet business. People are skeptical to do business with long
and cumbersome-looking URL addresses, which looks unreliable at
first glance. Maybe they will click at your site but do not expect
them to open their wallets for you. Who would remember an address
like that in the first place?
Invite your
friends, ask them to bombard you with criticisms and suggestions.
Those comments will be your guide to the design and content of
your final website.
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