How do I Build a Good Website?

Creating a good website takes some planning.

Building a good website takes patience and great planning. A good website has to have a purpose, is well laid out and easy to navigate. The idea behind a good website is to distribute useful information to users in a way that they can easily locate the information they are looking for and that gives them the opportunity to learn more if they are interested. Good websites quickly become popular on search engines because visitors learn to rely on them and can easily begin to generate an income thanks to advertising and affiliate programs.

Instructions

1. Define your purpose. The most important aspect of any good website is its purpose. A website needs a reason for being. This purpose should be somewhat narrow in scope in order to be the most effective. For example, a website about all aspects of personal finance may provide some high-level credit card information, but a website that specifically deals only with personal credit cards will probably be more beneficial to a surfer looking for information regarding that aspect of personal finance.

2. Create an easy-to-follow layout. With paper and pencil, diagram how the information will flow on your website. Start with your home page and decide how you want it to be divided in order to create an easy-to-read page. The information on your homepage should be very high level and include links to more in-depth information. Your child pages should present one topic and provide plenty of well-researched information regarding that particular subject.

3. Add content. The content is the text and images that you add to your site in order to give it substance, and gives your readers a reason to stop by. Your information should be presented in small chunks of easy-to-read text in a plain font that is adequately sized for easy consumption without being glaring. Times New Roman in 12 to 14 point should be adequate to accomplish this. Images should be clear and relate to the article next to which they are inserted. All content should be original and copyright free in order to distinguish your site from other sites on the Internet and avoid legal issues.

4. Add links. Every good website needs credibility. The easiest way to get credibility is to link to your resource material wherever possible. This can be done by adding hyperlinks into the text of your content or by adding links to a linkbar that runs parallel or perpendicular to your page. Make sure that your links make sense, meaning that your reader knows where he is headed when he clicks the link, in order to prevent frustration. Also, periodically check to make sure that your links still work and remove any links that are no longer functional.

References

• McManuscreative.com: How to build a good website