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TLC Promotions'
Webmaster Resources
WELCOME TO WEB SITES 101
Now that you have decided to create an Internet business, you must create a web site. Your web site is the most important part of your online business, and its creation should not be taken lightly. After all, your web site is your storefront, the place people will go to transact business with you. So, let's get started, there is much to consider when building a professional web presence.
#1 Domain Names
The first thing that you must do, when developing your web based business is to select a domain name for your web site. Your domain name is all important. It is part of the web address leading to your web site.
For example: tlcpromotions.net is a domain name registered to me. The name is the same as my company name, and the web address for this domain is http://www.tlcpromotions.net.
When choosing a domain name, you should either use your company name, or a keyword which identifies your type of business. As with an email address, it should be professional.
Once you have chosen a domain name for your web site, you must register it with a domain registrar. Doing this makes that name yours, and no one else can use it unless and until you let the registration expire.
Finding a domain registrar is a simple task. There are many to choose from, and all you need to do is a simple search on Google to find them. Shop around for the best price, as they vary quite a bit. my personal preference is namecheap.com. They offer domain registration for less than $10.00/yr. per domain name, and they don't slap you in the face with a $35 fee for renewal, like most other registrars do.
#2 Web Hosting
Now that you have your domain registered, you need to find a web hosting service. Who you select for a hosting company is extremely important. The hosting company is where your web site will live, where you store your files, run your scripts, how your visitors access your pages.
If you are serious about building a business on the web, DO NOT use a free hosting service. This is very important! Free hosting services typically run advertisements on your site. This is how they can afford to give you hosting for free. These advertisements will not only make your site look unprofessional, but you run the risk of losing your visitors to the advertiser. Another problem with free hosting is that your visitors are less likely to take you seriously. How serious are you about your business, if you aren't willing to pay to operate it?
Free hosting services are very limited in what you can do with your site. Most do not provide cgi-bin, mysql databases, autoresponders, and other operational necessities. And, most free services will not allow you to use them for commercial purposes anyway. You will find this type of restriction in the terms of service. Free hosting services are fine for personal web sites, but not for business sites.
Finding an affordable, reliable web hosting company requires shopping around to find what best suits your needs and purpose. All hosting companies claim that they are the best, with the best price, and services. Do not be seduced by sales copy. I am not going to lay out a list of choices for you to shop and compare, although you can find hundreds of hosting companies to choose from. I will give you my advice: If you want reliability, affordability, and top notch customer support, the only choice you have is Global Domains International. They provide domain registration and hosting at a reasonable monthly rate. If you are looking for a place to host your already registered domains, check out HostForWeb, or Ultimate-Host.net.
The main claim that most services use to draw in customers is unlimited, storage, email, bandwidth, etc.. No web hosting company can provide you with unlimited anything. If you read the small print in the terms of service, or acceptable use policy, you will find those limitations. So don't fall for it.
A typical web site will not require more than 300 MB of storage. Most will not require more than 1GB of bandwidth, and unlimited email addresses is not a big deal.
Here is a list of things that a typical web site owner should look for when deciding on a hosting service:
- 300MB of disk space
- 2000MB of bandwidth
- e-mail accounts
- Autoresponders
- Unlimited sub domains
- FTP manager
- MySQL databases
- CGI
- 24/7 technical support
- Custom error pages
- Shopping cart
- Add-on scripts
If you are planning to sell products from your site, your hosting company will need to be able to support a shopping cart system.
If you are not versed in writing HTML, you should look for a service that provides you with a web page builder. This will allow you to create basic web pages without any technical knowledge.
#3 Web Design
Web design is the next step in the creation of a web presence. This is where you get to strut your stuff.
You have several options when it comes to designing your web pages. If you are a novice, you may want to use a professionally created, pre-made template. Basic templates can be found for free, and more complex templates can be had for a fee.
These templates allow you to to fill in the blanks. You are provided the design of the page; images, tables, colors, etc.. but you add the actual text copy.
You might also consider using the site builder provided by your web host, if applicable. This option is exceptionally good for those who want to cut and paste their way. This type of editor will work very similarly to your word prossessing program, allowing you to customize the look of your text, insertion of images, and creating hyperlinks.
One thing to avoid, in creating your web site, is the over-use of flash presentations. They look pretty cool, but they cause the page to load much slower, don't usually work for those using a dial up connenction, and are actually annoying to some. You run the risk of losing a potential customer out of frustration.
Don't over-load on images. Images are another cause for slower loading pages. Selling advertising on your web site is a great way to generate a little extra cash, but don't turn your site into a banner farm. Too many banner ads will look tacky and distract your visitors away from your site. Text ads are a much better option.
Your graphics play a vital role in whether or not your visitors will spend longer than 30 seconds looking at your page. Too many visuals and your visitor will need an asprin, and not enough will put them to sleep. Also, you must think about what type of graphics you feel are appropriate for your particular application. Keep in mind that you must balance your text with your graphics; too many banners will look unprofessional, and too much text will make reading your information a chore.
There are several differnet types of web graphics available...
Flash
Static or Animated banners
Logos
Photographs
Icons
FREE DOWNLOAD
GRAPHICS WIZARD
You can even create your own banners, logos, buttons and business cards at many free design web sites. Follow these links to various graphic design sites, and you are sure to find something to your liking. Also included are some great do-dad sites, where you can find just about anything else you might require... Guestbooks, scripts, plug-ins; you name it!
You should always capture your visitors' names and email addresses. Include a form somewhere on your page, or as an exit pop up, which asks for those two things. The best way to do this is to offer an incentive for providing you with their contact information - a free gift, discount, etc..
When writing your copy, use a font that is easy to read. If your font is too difficult for someone to read, they will leave your site right away. Bold the important words in your text, so that someone skimming through your copy will get the important information.
Make sure that your copy is spelled correctly, displays proper grammar, and reads well. If your copy is lacking in these areas, you are sure to leave your visitor unimpressed. Therefore, you should proof read your copy, use your spellchecker, and read your copy aloud, before publishing it to the web. Remember, you are trying to make a professional impression on potential customers.
Finally, make use of your HTML and META tags. These are the attribute tags in your page's HTML. Using good descriptions and key words will assist in search engines finding your pages.
TLC Promotions Recommends NW Professional Websites for the Best in Fully Customizable, Easy to Use Design Services. With their unique, browser-based software, you’ll have total control over your website. There’s no need to learn any complicated web-programming language. All changes are immediately posted online. No more webmaster costs, delays, or content glitches. Insuring your site is up-to-date at all times. And YES, HOSTING IS INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE!
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This Tutorial is brought to you by
KeystoneBiz.net - Internet Service Providers
HTML = HyperText Markup Language
Download This Free Tutorial
Table of Contents
Basic HTML
- Chapter 1: The Basics
- Chapter 2: The Common Tags
- Chapter 3: More Common Tags
- Chapter 4: A little more tags
- Chapter 5: Extended Fonts and Text Colour
- Chapter 6: Links and Images
- Chapter 7: Lists, lists, lists
- Chapter 8: Clean code, comments and escape codes
- Chapter 9: Navigation within a document
Advanced HTML
- Chapter 10: Tables
- Chapter 11: Using Frames
- Chapter 12: Using Meta Tags
- Chapter 13: Forms
- Chapter 14: Forms cont'd
- Chapter 15: Forms cont'd
- Chapter 16: Counters, Guestbooks and Search Engines
- Chapter 17: Graphics
- Chapter 18: HTML Style Basics
Downloads to help you get started
Web Design Tools
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