Why Not Start Your Own Web Site?

There's a nasty little rumor out in the media right now, claiming that the Internet explosion is dying down to little more than some occasional surfing. However, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, in home Internet use by Americans has increased six percent in the last year, and by a whopping nineteen percent since 1999. That means that 58% of all American homes are currently surfing the Net generally on a daily basis. While the average web user tends to spend about ten and a half hours online per month, people using the internet for research purposes seem to log on a quite a bit more than that. Workers or students looking for valuable information regarding their current research topic are putting in an average of twenty plus hours a week! With the Internet being used more commonly as a research tool and showing up in more homes everyday, the chances of people viewing a web page are increased greatly. Having a web site can have more than one advantage, whether you are a business owner, student, teacher, or just someone that wants to share information or opinions with other people. Oftentimes, small business owners have trouble marketing their products to people outside their own local area. With a web site that pulls up when a potential customer types the site's key words into a search engine, the business owner just expanded his customer database to worldwide proportions without even setting foot outside his home or office. Students and teachers have the advantage of online after school help when they choose to manage a website. Many of these websites not only have information pertinent to that night's homework, they also have message boards where students can ask questions and get responses from teachers or other students. Just about anyone with a special interest can create their own website, whether it's to express their views about a political issue, tell the world which musical talent they are currently listening to, or to post pictures for their far away family and friends to see. Websites can be informative, entertaining, or used for about a million other different reasons. With the increase in Internet activity, there isn't a good reason out there to not take advantage of all that traffic and design a page.