3 Quick Steps to your own website!
3 Quick Steps to your own website!
So you want to build that website - for whatever reason, perhaps
you've started a business or simply wish to share pictures of
the new addition to your family. Let me tell you it's easier
than you think - all you need is directions that you can follow
and you will soon be online.
Let's talk what it will cost upfront. For $10 - $20/month you
can have a working website (Imagine: www.yourname.com),
available to anyone in the world with internet access. That's a
trip to your favourite fast food joint. (Yes, you can afford
it!) There are also some ways of getting a free site - still
residing at www.yourname.com, but lets learn about all those
weird internet terms first.
There are 3 basic components required to building a personal,
custom website. You need: - A domain name - A hosting account
and - Content written in HTML or some other web language. I
know, what's a domain name!!!?
Here is an analogy I teach:
You live in a home that is built on a certain piece of land
(that you rent or buy). That piece of land has a specific
address.
Your website (a collection of individual web pages) sits on a
hosting account that you rent. That hosting account is found at
a specific address - called a domain name.
Your Home Your Website Your Street Address: e.g. 1 John St,
Anytown Your domain name: e.g. www.yourname.com Your plot of
land Your hosting account Your physical house Your web content
Here is the 3 step process: STEP 1: Choose your address STEP 2:
Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet STEP 3:
Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in
step 2
Let's explain each step: STEP 1: Choose your address (a domain
name) With the internet you can choose what you want your
address to be (your domain name). What are you selling? What
would make a cool name? Understand that after over 10 years of
public internet access - a lot of good names have been taken. So
get creative, and be unique but understandable. An easy place to
start with is your full name for a family/personal site or your
product name for a business site. Make a list of about 10
possibilities that you like in this format
www.yourdesiredname.com Move to the next step.
STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet
(A hosting account) With a quick search for the words "Web
Hosting" on the internet, you get a list of web hosting
companies - all eager to sell or rent you some space on their
computer. GoDaddy.com and 1and1.com are some recommended
companies - feel free to look into others, but there are
thousands upon thousands - so don't waste your time searching
for the cheapest (you pay for what you get, but $10+ will get
you a decent hosting account. Many of the hosting companies will
either give you or sell you your choice of domain name at the
same time you start your hosting account. Bring out your list
from STEP 1, and when instructed in the purchase process, enter
in your first domain name choice. You will be informed if that
name is available or not. Keep trying out your names in order of
your preference until you find on that is available. Finish the
purchase process and let the hosting company instruct you on how
to access you account. (They'll send you an email - and if you
go with one of the companies I recommended, you can call them
with your questions.)
STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you
bought in step 2 You have some choices to make here: A - You can
ask someone to build you a site. B - You can build it yourself.
C - Use a free website builder - (like a blog) Each has its pros
and cons. The first option is great if you can afford it and can
find someone reliable. If you want cheap, post a job at your
local high school - someone in computer club will be able to
help you for really cheap. The problem is that they may not
always be around when you need them to make changes. Enter
choice B
It's great to learn a new skill, and you can learn for free
online - just invest a little time. Remember once you know
how... you own that knowledge forever and you will never depend
on someone else to build your site. Again search online for "how
to build a website" They will tell you how to design, build and
upload your site onto your hosting account form STEP 2.
If you don't really require a customized design and all you want
to do is place some text and perhaps some pictures online. I
suggest starting what's called a blog - these are often free,
and have a really simple "HTML CODE FREE" way of adding your
content. All you do is type and publish. You can often still
have your own domain name here, but each blogging company is
different. Again search online for blogging - and read what the
various companies offer.
Content There is one thing that is really important and that
ONLY you can do! That is come up with the content and the idea.
Think about what you have to offer and what problem it solves
for your visitors and prepare your content so as to answer that
problem. E.g. You write great jokes. People are looking for
jokes... your website should give people some jokes and perhaps
they can register for your daily joke email. Write simply, write
short, write clearly. As time goes on, remember to keep your
site fresh. Keep the content updated and relevant to your ideal
visitors.
The goal of this article was to give you easy steps of how to
get a website for yourself. Naturally you can learn more about
each step, and there are many people who can give you help, but
now you can start the journey. Create your list of domain names,
purchase a hosting account (including the domain name you want)
and build your site and keep the content fresh.
In future articles I'll take about next steps: - "I build it,
but they ain't coming to see it." - "I built it, but nobody's
buying" - "I built it, but I don't know how to improve it."
A journey of a million miles starts with one step - so go to
step 1 and start. (Don't worry - this is not a long journey -
but it's exciting!).
Here to Help You! Batsirai Chada (Author and Friend)