DIY Website Design & Hosting

Any browser will give you the access you need to design a website.

Creating your own website is fun, and it's much simpler than it was even five years ago. There are hosts and web-design software at your fingertips, ranging from free to full-featured, monthly-fee businesses that still won't break the bank. If you can use normal software for word processing and simple flow charts, you can make your own website.

Instructions

Budget Your Site

1. 

   Find the right host for your needs.

   Decide how much you want to spend on your website. There are free webhosts online, but if you want full control over your site, you'll need to buy your domain and pay a small monthly fee for control of it. You can usually find a good host for under $10 per month. Search the web for "web hosting" and compare features and prices. If you choose paid hosting, check to make sure there are no hidden fees, like extra for mySQL databases, which are free elsewhere and are useful if you decide to use CMS software like Joomla! or Drupal.

2. 

   Start building.

   Plan out your site. Websites are only as good as the plans used to make them. If there's no concrete plan for the site, or a clear purpose, the site will end up a motley assortment of pages and pictures and random gadgets. Plan it out on paper before starting to build.

3. 

   Clarity is more important that gadgets.

   Make the "home" page. Whether you're using free sites like weebly.com, google.com/sites, and wix.com or paid-for hosting (places like siteground.com, hypermart.net, or godaddy.com), there are certain immediate needs for your site. The first of these is the home page. This is the page web-surfers hit when they first type in your domain name, and if the home page isn't clearly organized, new visitors won't come back. Create a clear title, a navigation bar towards the top of the page, and a concise message of site-purpose, all immediately visible.

4. 

   Be a copycat.

   Stick to your purpose. When designing web pages, it's easy to become distracted by all the widgets, modules and gadget that are available. However, these widgets and gadgets, although nifty, often detract from the overall purpose of the website. It often helps to take a look at websites that you'd like yours to emulate as you put yours together.

5. 

   Keep it alive with new content.

   Add content regularly. A static website is often a dead website. If you don't login frequently to add content or information or new product or family pictures, page views (visitors) will decrease and your site will die. Keep your site alive and bring in new visitors by changing your content, but not your purpose.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose your domain name by purpose, not by using your own name, unless your website is simply a family forum, or online resume of sorts.

• If you opt paid hosting, try out CMS software like Joomla! It simplifies the organization aspect of web design and offers great extensibility.

References

• Web Hosting

Resources

• CMS Software