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How To Set Up Your Own Website
 Category |
: Web Development |
 Times Read |
: 49 |
 Date |
: 26 February. 2008 07:00 |
This article deals solely with the mechanics of writing a websiteand placing it in the search engines.For an explanation of why you want to do this, and how todetermine what your target audience is, send a blank email towebsitenewsletter@sendfree.com. That article will also tell youhow to harness the power of newsletters to bring in traffic.This is something of a rough overview. If you have specificquestions or want to know about something not covered here, writeto michaellarocca@lycos.com and Ill try to help.And finally, since websites that give you free advice on settingup websites tend to come and go rapidly, visithttp://free_reads.tripod.com/bookpromo.html for the latestversion of the information contained in this article.Web SiteFree or registered? Buying your own domain name costs about US$35A year, and paying someone to host it costs US$20 or less permonth. Conventional wisdom has it that free sites dont place aswell in search engines, and this is probably true. But if yourejust learning, Id start with a freebie and move it later. If youwant a free webpage, you can run a search for "free websites."Heres what every web host should have:FTP serverBanners, frames or pop-ups? Pop-ups are definitely a no-no, andpersonally I hate framesAn easy-to-remember address. Some use www.{server}.com/{user} andothers use {user}.{server}.com. These are both fine. Butsomething like www.{server}.com/{something}/{something else}/...is just to complicated to transmit verbally, assuming you canremember it.CGI support, which means nothing to you now but which youlldefinitely want down the roadIf youre looking for some help just getting started, visit IsYour Website Unfriendly? for some excellent pointers and a finetutorial. Its at http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz/HTMLtips.html.Also, visit Links To Helpful Sites over on MURDER MUST ADVERTISE.http://www.murdermustadvertise.com/Links.html. The site was setup for mystery writers, but the advice is useful to any writer.Heavy on the Internet promotion, meaning the FREE stuff, but notlimited specifically to the Internet. Fine tips on writing aswell.You also want to visit two other sites that offers much the samething as this article does but have very different sets ofresources.Internet Authors Networkhttp://www.xenite.org/internet_authors/FictionHouse Raconteurhttp://www.fictionhouse.com/html/raconteur.htmlIf you dont know how to write a website, many of the freebiesites give you the tools to do it by menu in five minutes.Personally, I hate those. To learn all you need to know, visit:HTML For The Complete Idiothttp://www.geocities.com/hiker_jjw/HTML Goodieshttp://htmlgoodies.earthweb.com/HTML: An Interactive Tutorial for Beginnershttp://www.davesite.com/webstation/html/HTML Primerhttp://www.htmlprimer.com/The JavaScript Sourcehttp://javascript.internet.com/Web Developers Journalhttp://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/Webmonkeyhttp://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/For many years, I used Notepad to write my HTML. Now I use CSEHTML Validator Lite. Its free. Imagine Notepad with the abilityto open multiple pages (like Excel workbooks) and to validateyour code, and youve pretty much figured out CSE HTML Validator.http://www.htmlvalidator.comDiagnostic ToolsHeres a closely related subject. Running a "diagnostic" on yoursite (after upload) will tell you how long it takes to run atvarious modem speeds, how compatible it is with older browsers,how to improve the problem areas, identify busted links, etc.Link Alarm - Website that emails you reportshttp://www.linkalarm.com/Link Sleuth - Software you download and runhttp://home.snafu.de ilman/xenulink.htmlWeb Site Garagehttp://www.websitegarage.comScriptsOkay, youre finding you want to do things that HTML just doesnthandle. In a nutshell, if the website sends it to the user,thats HTML. If the user sends it to the website, thats CGI.But do you really want to learn yet another new language? Ofcourse not. Its already been done thousands of times. You wantto go pick up some free code, perhaps learn just enough to plugit in and make it work. Heres what you need to know aboutscripts, then.http://www.merrymonk.com/cgi-shl/s.pl?index-419This book will tell you everything you need to know about how toinstall a CGI script, modify it, or even write your own if youfeel like it. Its loaded with many free samples, and it tellsyou all the places to get thousands more. Its a resource youllrefer to over and over again, and itll pay for itself the firsttime you use it.Before you actually go out and BUY it, though, download the freesample Im giving away. Then youll know what CGI is and if youcan use it. If you can use it, and I believe you can, this is thebest book Ive read on the subject. Easy to read and understand,loaded with useful stuff.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/michaellarocca/files is where youcan get that free sample. Its called sample.pdf.Software and GraphicsOkay, I have no doubt that you want pictures and buttons and allthose bells and whistles. I wont even try to keep the list up todate on the free artwork. Just pop into any search engine andtype "free clipart" or "free backgrounds" or "free wallpaper" andprepare to be hammered.By the way, if youre on a website somewhere and you see anuncopyrighted graphic you like, you can always right-click it and"Save Target As" and take it home with you.But remember, every graphic takes time to load on the users end.Try to keep the file sizes as small as you can manage. This iswhere "optimization" comes in handy. Or perhaps you want to do alittle graphics creation of your own. For these particular tasks,I recommend the links below.DeWitt Industries Interactive Web Sitehttp://www.dewittindustries.comEarthStation1 Shareware and Freewarehttp://earthstation1.simplenet.com/software.htmlGraphics Optimizationhttp://www.xat.comMediabuilderhttp://www.mediabuilder.comMy Imagerhttp://www.myimager.com/Scream Designhttp://www.screamdesign.com
About the Author
Michael LaRocca is the author of four published novels and anEPPIE 2002 Award finalist. Hes been working as a full-timeauthor and editor since December 1999. For a complete list ofhis articles, all available via autoresponder, send a blank emailto michaellarocca@sendfree.com
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Lets face it. Its all about the hits. The more quality hits you get to your site, the more chances you will have to promote your product and make a sale. As a business owner, or someone in the field of helping a business promote themselves on the web, this proves to be a true fact. So what can you d
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by: Jay Peterson Over the years, the internet has proven to be an effective solution that transforms the way we do business. It doesnt matter if you are selling a product or a service. The Internet can help you in reaching markets that had otherwise been unreachable in the past. B |
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Heres a fact for you, 85 to 95% of Websites are found through a search engine. You may have the most incredible Website on the Internet, but it will receive little or no traffic without search engine visibility and ranking. Can you imagine a billboard in the Sahara desert? Who sees it?So, how will s
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by Dan ThiesOne of the most popular marketing concepts today is the "mini-site." A mini-site is essentially a one-page sales letter, linked to an order form, specifically designed to sell a single product or service. While mini-sites are very effective sales tools, it can be a major challenge to at
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