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build

In the "Build" section you will learn how to build a web site.

These are the steps you will take:

  • Planning
    What information you'll include and how it's organized
  • Designing
    Your graphic design, page layout, and all graphic elements
  • Developing
    Build your home page and secondary pages
  • Launching
    Test your pages and upload them to your web site host

To create the pages, you can use:

Notepad
(or any other text editor)
if you like to work directly with code

Macromedia DreamWeaver

Adobe GoLive

Microsoft FrontPage

Get Started Overview

Before you design your web site you need to understand a few things:

  1. Web sites serve a purpose: (1) to inform people or "publish" information, (2) sell products/services to people, or both.
  2. Functional web sites require (1) a computer (server) to store the web pages and (2) viewers (people) with computers loaded with "browser" software to display web pages.
  3. The viewer is in control; your job is to make your web site enticing, easy to find and use, and up-to-date.

Types of Web Sites

Web sites generally fall into one of two categories:

  • Sites that publish information for a local, national, or international audience
  • Sites that sell products and services in a "click-and-mortar" storefront

Publishing Information

The web is the ultimate publishing tool. No print runs, immediate global distribution, easy search capability, and instant gratification. You can create today and publish today.

The challenge is figuring out what information your visitors want to see and then making it easy for them to find it. And don't forget to think outside the bounds of the printed word - it's a waste of the web's potential to just recreate your company brochure online.

Here are a couple of informational sites that meet this challenge. Test them out to see whether you can find information quickly.

Selling Products and Services

The web is also a prime place to do business. In fact, increasingly, it is the place to do business. If you have a unique service or product to sell, creating a web site is as important as getting phone service or a business license.

By deciding to sell online, you add considerable complexity to your site; but the upside of e-commerce is huge! Your virtual store doesn't need commercial floor space or a big sales force to reach a large market of potential buyers.

The web opens the windows of the world to small businesses that otherwise might rely only on local customers. A children's clothesmaker in Vermont, a small vintner in Burgundy, an exclusive beach resort in PhuketXyou can do business with any of these companies on the web.

Take a look. How successful are these sites in marketing their services or products to you? Would you buy from them?

Riding the Wave

Everything else aside, there is a strong social reason to be on the web: People expect to find you there. After all, if your neighbor's dog has a web site, shouldn't you?

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