Learn to Design and Promote Your First Website

by: Jean Pardue

You are Designing Your Very First Website - What do You need to Know?

You may say to yourself; "I am no web designer, why should I bother?" This statement is made by many who are intimidated by the idea of designing and promoting a website but you will be way ahead of the game when you read this report even if you plan to hire a webmaster to create your Internet presence.

Be sure to follow these simple steps before creating your first website

 

What is the theme of your new website?   You will want your new website to reflect the theme of your company. For instance, if you are selling music cd's, choose a theme that fits well with the music industry.   Or, maybe your Internet business offers training in a certain field or develops services in fields such as fitness, domain registration, Internet marketing, dollars and cents, beginning webmaster, and other major areas of interest to Internet surfers.

You can find some outstanding search engine optimization tools such as Wordtracker.Com online to find possible keywords for your new website. Wordtracker will help you to focus on a niche market and have a more intimate following. Remember, the more specific your subject, the more likely the keywords will reach your potential customers. You can go for a free trial of Wordtracker by going to ...

What's in a Domain Name?

To find a name for your new website just visit any Internet Hosting Company to search the availability of domain names. This is the www.yourname.com consumers will type in to find your Internet business online and it only belongs to you. Domain names normally end in .com, .net, .org, etc. and are now available in many other forms depending upon your company's operation structure.

Example: www.parduephotos.com

When you are choosing your domain name make sure it is ...

• Not too long - Domain names with too many letters are difficult to type and are easily susceptible to errors.
• Easy for surfers to spell - even for children. Many people are not good spellers so make sure the name is simple and easy to type into a browser.
• Simple and easy to remember - What good is having a creative and unusual Internet name if no one can remember it?
• Consistent with your business website theme - Your domain name should be synonymous with your company goals and ways of doing business.
• Creative and witty (notwithstanding the tips above)

Again, keep your domain name as simple as possible so that it can be used easily with your advertising and Internet marketing campaigns. Simple, Simple, Simple!!!

Your Web Hosting Provider

Your web hosting choice is almost as important as your design or domain name. Hosting refers to the "Internet space" needed in order for your new website to make its appearance online. There are literally thousands of web hosts available to choose from, but here are a few warnings to choosing a web host.

• Make sure the web host is dependable
• Make sure they are affordable
• Make sure they offer outstanding customer service
• Make sure the Internet hosting company can provide the features you need for your new website

Free vs. Paid Internet Hosting

You may be able to get by with one of the free Internet hosting services if you plan to design a personal website, but do not use these free services for your business website!

Also, it's good to know that all hosting services do not offer special features such as PHP or MySQL potential. Not all web service companies offer a trustworthy control panel for traffic management and stats. So, be sure to choose an Internet hosting provider that offers what you need for now and what you need to grow your business in the years to come.

Who do We Recommend? Simple: IX Hosting

IX Hosting has been rated and is still considered the best Internet hosting site on the web by the powers that be for you to change your domain name. It is considered one of the best because the customer service and price is in line.

Sure, you can find a 4.95 cheap domain name register and apply for a registration on the web using these companies but when you compare domain name register agencies you'll find you can do better than that with IX Hosting because they are considered number one by many Internet domain techies and I rate them very highly myself!

You only need to fill in your choice of available domain names to begin the process of changing a website. As easy as that! In fact, this very site you are reading is hosted and registered with IX. Go Here to change a domain name with IX Hosting . The final thought is that there is a smorgasbord of web hosting companies and you can become overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. To save you some time and heartache, we strongly recommend IX Hosting to change your domain name.

Designing Your New Website

Now that you have chosen your domain name and secure web hosting, it is now time to design your website.

Options for Website Design

1. Do it yourself and become a webmaster - If you are a quick study you can learn web design skills such as HTML and PHP so you can design your own site for Internet presence.
2. Take the easier way and hire a web designer to create what you need to get your business online.

If your choice is to learn web design from home, there are many tutorials and courses online to help you achieve your webmaster goals. It won't cost you a fortune either. Some of these courses offer lots of value for the money.

If you plan to take the paid road to web design you may want to find a website that has many of the same features you want on your site and find out the webmaster's name. This is sometimes a good method to finding a web designer who already has the skills and knows a little about your particular industry.

No matter if you become a webmaster yourself or hire a web designer to build your site you will need to determine what type of programming language you will use before you start. This will depend upon the features your website will have like flash, etc.

How to Get People to Find Your New Website

Now it is time to promote your new website. There is an overused saying in the Internet world; "If you build it they will come." but I can assure you that is not the case. You must find ways to drive traffic to your site or it will fade into oblivion!

There are lots of different ways to promote a website such as search engine optimization (SEO), paid search engines such as Yahoo or Google Adwords, free search engine submission, electronic newsletter advertising (e-zines), and maybe even advertising off-line. Some examples of promoting an Internet site off-line is by including your website address on all your printed materials such as business cards, newspaper ads, letterhead, envelopes, business checks, direct mail pieces, etc.

Using Content Articles to Drive Traffic to Your New Website

At the time of this writing one of the most compelling ways to encourage visitors to come to your website is by adding content articles. These features get noticed by the major search engines because they contain information and not just a sales pitch. The more advice and information you offer, the higher up your site will be when someone types in your keywords. If you offer a cleaning service, write many articles for your new website about the types of chemicals to avoid, health issues of maintaining a clean house or office, etc.

Or, if you don't have the expertise or time to write, hire a content writer to write them for you. A writer can help you stay ahead of the competition by providing plenty of content for your users and information for the search engines within your target. You can find more information about content article writers by going here now.

Now that you know more about how to start your new website you are on your way to Internet success!

 

Jean Pardue is a freelance web content article writer and can be contacted at speed-writer@hotmail.com . Get more tips and tricks about web design and promotion by going to http://www.domainsitings.com/newsletter/subscribe

 

If you would like to have articles like this one to list on your website or in your publication please contact Jean for availability and usage rate information.

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