This is the 3rd of 4 articles about having your own web site
(to see the previous articles, please go to: http://baliadvertiser.biz/articles/index.html)
How do I build my own web site:
Now that you have registered your domain name (www.yourname.com)
(see the 1st article in this series) and have your hosting
service (see the 2nd article), it’s now time to actually
build your web site. The first thing you’ll want
to do is go out and buy some software. I use Microsoft
Frontpage and love it, others hate it and swear by Macromedia’s
Dreamweaver. But, before you open the package and start
designing, PLEASE do some research first. If you are
going to be doing a business web site then you MUST find and
look at your competitors. Get out a piece of paper (or
open your favorite word processor) and start listing the names
of your competitors. Stick to the top 5 or so that you
can think of. Now get on the internet and see if they
have websites. (You can use www.google.com to ‘search’
for the company name). While you on the net, try and
find other companies that do what you do. This involves
‘searching’ the net. Let’s say you
have an exporting business for Balinese lamp shades.
Search for ‘Bali Lamp Shades’ and see what comes
up. As you find sites you like the look of, or sites
that are additional competitors, save them in your ‘favorites’
or ‘bookmark’ them so you can visit them again.
Also try a search for ‘imported lamp shades’,
or maybe ‘export lamp shades’. See what
I mean, try different searches because this will be how other
internet users will try and find your site. (Put yourself
in their shoes and imagine what search phrases they would
use). Keep a list of these search phrases for use in
the marketing of your site (see the next and last of these
series of articles).
So, after some work you should have an idea of what several
web sites like yours look like. See anything they have
in common? What type of ‘navigation’ (how
you get from page to page within the site) do they use?
Are there many images or just a few? Lots of text or
just a little? Notice what pages they all seem to include
(‘Contact Us’; ‘Search this site’;
‘FAQ’; etc).
Ok, now it’s time to start the actual design.
If you are new to this, then I would suggest purchasing a
book about the software you’ve chosen. Go to http://www.amazon.com
and search for your software title (‘Front Page’)
and read the reviews of different books until you find one
that seems right (not too technical). I like the ‘Dummy’
series and the ‘Idiots Guide’ series. Order
the book and actually read thru it. Again, if you are
new to all this you might not want to jump right in and start
designing your business web site, but might want to do a practice
web site first. Keep it real simple – two pages,
1 image on each page, etc. After you’ve gone thru
this learning curve you can take your skills and apply them
for real on your business web site.
One last word: There is another way to go. Hire
someone to do it for you! You can get someone to do
all the work for you and even maintain the web site (make
changes to the text, images, etc; over time) while you stay
busy running your business. This can be expensive.
You may want to do what many folks do which is hire someone
to set up the site and then you take over and do the maintenance
yourself after it’s all set up. If this is the
case, make sure the person you hire uses either Dreamweaver
or Frontpage, so you can then take over. This is the
easiest way to have control of your site.
Next issue we’ll take about marketing your web site
to get customers there!
Have a question or problem? Write me at BaliPCAdvisor@GMail.com.
I’ll try and answer as soon as I can.
Bali PC Advisor and other Bali Advertiser article Archives
now ONLINE: http://baliadvertiser.biz/articles/index.html.
NEXT time: Setting up your own website. Part 4 – Marketing
your site
PakBruce, your Bali PC Advisor!
