Designing a Website
Welcome to the webmaster's website design tutorial,
"How to Design a Website"
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The Webmasters Website Design Tutorial
 Making a website is easy. Making a good website is not so easy. There are many things you have to consider if you want to make a successful website, no matter if it is a commercial or personal site. Just using a stock website template is not enough. Superior website design entails many elements that are not neccessarily evident. You must consider everything from target audience to layout to execution.
If you are really serious about having a professional website you must take into account all of the elements that professional website designers do. This webmasters tutorial will cover those things and try to make the individual steps to success as basic as possible.
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What is a website?
A website is an address (location/server) on the World Wide Web that contains your web pages and can be accessed by anyone on the internet. This is your home sweet home on the World Wide Web. |
(This is a simplified diagram of how a website connects to the World Wide Web)
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| Basically, a website is your personal online communications connection to the rest of the world. It is here that you will sell a product, pass on information, express an opinion and/or tell the world who you are.
But, will anyone take your website seriously? Will the search engines find and list your site? What type of visitor will you attract? If you want to find out the answers to these questions and build a serious website it is important that you know how to design your website with your audience in mind.
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Media types
A website is totally different from any other type of publishing, advertising or communications media. When you create a brochure, magazine or book for publication, you determine content, print it and it is finished.
If you are advertising a product or service on radio or television, you emphasize the name, how to get the product and do it within 15 to 30 seconds...then run the ad over and over again. None of the above will work on the Internet and you must take this into account when you design a website. |
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The Website Design Process
If someone would asked you what is the single most important thing on a website, I hope that you would say that it is information.
Designing for the web requires the relevant content of a brochure or magazine, the colorful look of high-quality print, and the attention-grabbing impact of television advertising. Plus it should offer a valuable product and/or information, be updated frequently and stay current with changing technology.
When you design your website you have to put yourself in your visitors shoes. A website is never done. You will be tweaking and modifying the design and content all the time. There will be new graphics to add, that new piece of code you just found and extra pages to put online. But, that is part of the fun of being your own webmaster.
Once you have decided to establish a website there are three basic steps to getting it ready to put online.
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(Click on the above graphic for further information) |
1 - Get a domain name
This is your personal/private address on the Web. An example would be; www.rocketface.com. |
2 - Find a web host
Here is where your website will reside. It is important that your service provider is reliable and up to the task. |
3 - Design, build and upload
The process of website creation. This is where it all begins as you design, build and maintain your internet identity. |
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Beginners guide to building a website
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Understanding the Basics of Owning Your Own Website
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Even in this day of technology there are some people who do not understand the fundamentals of owning their own website. They feel it's too complicated, too expensive, or they've been dealt some bad information. |
The Steps in Making a Website
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Websites have become increasingly popular in the past few years. Many people, whether technically trained or not, now have their own websites. |
Four Critical Web Design Rules
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When creating a new website or redesigning an existing site, there are four critical rules which should be followed to make the site effective, functional, loved by search engines - and successful. |
Types of Websites
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There are several types of websites on the Internet. If you are planning a new website or revamping an old one it helps to have an idea of what type of site you may be looking for. |
How to Choose the Right Domain Name
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Your domain name will be your “Internet identity,” so it will be helpful if it closely matches the name of your business, product, or service to make it easier for people to remember and find you. |
What Do I Need in a Web Hosting Package?
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If you are buying web hosting for the first time, you may have some questions about what you need and what you don't. |
Website Design Basics - Keep it Simple
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There are many free web site providers on the internet. All you are required to do is to sign and follow a couple of simple stages. Naming your web site and the domain name are important for your free website. |
Designing Web Pages
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Designing good webpages begins with good webpage layout and good webpage layout is not rocket science. |
Creating a Basic Web Design Template
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A "template" is simply a design format which you can apply to all (or most) of the pages in your web site. |
Fine Tuning your Website
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Once you have your website online the real work begins. A superior website is one that is constantly improved and refined. |
8 Easy Ways to Optimize Your Website
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8 simple steps that you can take to optimize your web pages. By following these, you will improve your chances of increasing your rankings. |
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The Top 10 Tools for Monitoring the Success of Your Website
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One of the most important aspects of running a website is monitoring the site and its progress. By monitoring your website you will be able to see how it is performing and how it can be improved. |
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