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Nuts and Bolts to Create A Web Site
Register your domain name
You need to select and register a unqiue address (called a domain name) that your clients and associates can use to find you on the Web.
- Check that your domain name is available. Find out if the name you want is taken, and what your options are if it is.
- Register your domain name. You can register from one year up to 10 years. You may want to register and forward domain names that are similar to your primary domain name. This prevents others from registering a domain name similar to yours. Many business owners register multiple domain names they like or that are similar to their .com name. (If you register a great name that you don't need, you can later resell it. Great domain names have sold for thousands of dollars. Some Internet marketers make a business doing this.)
- Decide how to use your domain name. You can wait: Do nothing further with your domain while you work on other aspects of your business, such as a business plan. No hurry. Your domain name is registered and secure. You can leave it "parked" or "reserved" for the length of your registration. In the meantime, however, set up a personalized email address that matches your domain. (such as YourName@YourDomain.com). When you are ready, go to the next step.
Proceed to set up your Web site
- Select a host for your Web site: To put your domain name on the Internet, you first need a host.
Design your Web site applying a unified strategy
Adobe Go-Live*, Macromedia Dreamweaver*, and Microsoft Front Page* are popular Web page design programs. Adobe and Macromedia recently joined forces. Adobe is often chosen for creating Web pages because it combines Web design and some powerful graphics programs in its CS2 (Creative Suite 2) and CS3 products. Alternatively, you can hire a qualified Web designer. Whether you design your Web site yourself or outsource it, you want to consider the following design principles:
- To scroll or not to scroll. Don't get trapped into a "one size fits all" design philosophy. If you're selling multiple products, or a variety of services loosely bound together by a general theme, you might follow standard Web design practice of fitting everything onto an 800X600-pixel view so your viewer doesn't have to scroll. For example, a massage therapist with multiple products and services might follow this guideline. On the other hand, if the site presents an engaging multi-step process that moves toward a particular focused goal, the approach might be to capture the viewer's attention in the first screen view and engage their imagination so that they want to discover each successive process step that brings them closer to the goal--and scrolling is not a problem.
- Images. Every image should point to your message in a unified way. Too many diverse images distract. Avoid using a lot of high resolution graphics. They tend to slow down page loading time, and you don’t want your visitors waiting an unacceptable time for your graphics to load before they can view the page.
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