My First Website 101

Where did this 101 business come from? Who came up with this 101 at the end of a subject anyway. Why not My First Website 1 or 100? I never understood that. Had not thing to do with the topic, just thought that I would put it out there.
So your finally looking to take the plunge online and start yourself a website. So many things to consider. So many cross-roads. Where to start? What to do? Hopefully this article will help guide you and answer some of those questions for you. It's intended to give you some basic information to consider when starting a website.

Introduction

The world of the internet is this huge, vast compilation of information. If you think about what it truly is. That's it. Some info is free, some you have to pay, but none-the-less, it's information. You want to put your spot on the information superhighway? What's the first thing to do to get started. Do I need super computers, memory, Microsoft Office, and hire a suite full of geeks to work for me? Let's find out!

First up to bat. . . .

What's the very first thing to consider to get your spot on the information superhighway? That's simple. What is your site going to be about? Are you going to offer free information based on your expertise to surfers. Are you planning to sell items? A mix of both? So many choices, but it's the very first thing to get a webpage started. You have to ask yourself. What do I want to do with my website? What am I doing it for? Your answer to that question will have you completed with the first step. My opinion on what to start. Try to be different. Focus on fulfilling a need and run with it. What do you know best than anyone else? What are you most passionate about? That is what I would start my website on.

Next. . . .

Alright, I made my decision on what I want to focus on, now what? Next you will need to figure out how you want to set the website up. Do you know HTML well enough to build your site manually? Or will you use a HTML editor like Site build-it, to help you build your page? There are many tools that you can use to help you build your site. I am going to remain as unbiased as possible. Go to any search engine and type in the key-phrase, "html editor." You will get tons of results back with free and paid tools that you can use. If you are on a tight budget like I was when I started my first website, I suggest grab a free tool. You can also check out downloads.com and find a great tool for free.

After that. . . .

What are you going to call this site? You will have to find a good domain name. Word of caution. This is probably going to be the most challenging thing you do to get your webpage started. I can guarantee that the simple name you are thinking about right now, is already taken. You will have to be unique here in order to find a good name that hasn't already been taken. If you can, try to use a name that will also be a main keyword that you use in your search engine optimization (will be discussed later). Example of what I mean is if you decided to base your website about fixing a American car. One of the keywords that you will probably focus on is "fixing American cars." So see if you can register the domain name, fixingamericancars.com. No big deal if you cannot. Most important you want to pick a domain name that is easy for someone to remember.

Then. . . .

Then you have to decide on where to host the website. You can accomplish this by paying or again free. The only problem with free services is that it is usually a sub-domain of the main one. It usually looks like this: http://www.freehost.com/freehost/host/yourwebsite.html. And they have many rules on what you can and cannot do. On top of the rules, most of them you have to have a small advertisement at the top or bottom of your page. I would suggest you pay for hosting. You saved on the tools, by getting them for free. You can find hosting for as low as $6.00 a month. Let's just assume for a moment that you are trying to make a professional stake in this game. Would you rather have a webpage with a domain that look like this www.freehost.com/freehost/host/fixingamericancars.html or a domain that look like this www.fixingamericancars.com What looks better to you? What will your surfers most likely remember? Answer the questions and go with what you decide.

And Finally. . . .

How are you going to promote the site? What avenues will you use. Will you even promote it at all. My guess is, if you went through all the trouble to start up a website, you want someone to see it, so how will you accomplish this task? You have to consider what and the cost around doing it. Will you do email advertising? Use web directories, search engines, link exchanges, traffic trades, web-rings, paid text links, pay-per-click advertising, etc. There are so many ways to promote your website. But how will you? The answer to that question could depend upon the budget you have to work with. Each medium produces different types of promotion, some targeted, other's not. Some works better than others. As I mentioned earlier, about search engines, you should have this as apart of the plan. Why? For one, it's free. Two, it's the best kind of promotion you can have. Someone searches for something specific and they find you. It's like looking in the Yellow Pages for a mechanic to fix your car. (to use the same example as before about fixing American cars) The chances of this person buying or using your service is high.

Conclusion.

Starting your first website can be fun and exciting. There are many tools available to you that can make it simple. If your budget is tight, use as many free tools as possible. When it comes to hosting your site, I would rather go paid so I can have a better, easy to remember domain for my website. As always, the choice is yours. Whatever fits your needs and budget is what you should do. Once you have it all together, up and running, it'll be time to promote to let the world know that your site is out there. That's the point, right? You did not build a great site for just you. You were hoping others would see. The key to success here is the more people you can get to get to see your site, the more successful of a site it will be. Just some food for thought.

John Cal