1. Choose your own program
© ruiwen (Flickr) Software Freedom Day Singapore 09
© ruiwen (Flickr)
You’ll need to decide which type of system you want to build your website on first. Some of the programs will be free while others will cost to get the full version on your computer. You should try as many as possible so you can find which one works the best for you.
2. Play around with the tools
© L. Marie (Flickr) Tool rack
© L. Marie (Flickr)
Before you even start to think about how your website looks, you’ll need to play around with the tools. Spend some time to get used to the platform that you have chosen to work with and find out your capabilities.
3. Decide on your website style
© Christopher Hall (Fotolia) paint pallet
© Christopher Hall (Fotolia)
You’ll now need to decide on how you want your website to look. There are a few factors that you’ll need to consider. First of all, is your website a business one or a personal one? Do you have any templates in mind? What colours do you want to use?
4. Download templates
© WikiMedia (Wikimedia) Screenshot of MediaWiki for translation purposes Source www. mediawi
© WikiMedia (Wikimedia)
Sometimes designing a website yourself can be difficult so it may be worth spending some time to search for templates to use. Most systems that you download onto your computer will come with some templates and there will be others available on the Internet.
5. Consider SEO
© Aldon (Flickr) Graphviz Keywords
© Aldon (Flickr)
You want your website to be easy to find to other Internet users so you should consider the use of SEO in your website content. Spend some time learning about this but do keep in mind that it can take from six months to a year for content to get to the first page of search engine.
6. Make your website
© Scott Maxwell (Fotolia) Web Builders Internet Construction Holding Blueprint With NET
© Scott Maxwell (Fotolia)
Now it’s time to make your website and put all of the pages together.
7. Find a web hosting company
© Julydfg (Fotolia) http
© Julydfg (Fotolia)
You’ll need to register your domain name and find an online web hosting company so you can make your pages viewable by other Internet users. Choose the web page hosts carefully and always bear in mind the need for your website and your budget; it can be very easy to overspend.