1. Decide How to Develop Your Website
Today, web design is easy! Anyone with a computer and a little creativity can design and create an elaborate web page in just a few hours of work. But beware – you want your website to look professional! This is not something that should be taken for granted. As the old saying goes, “You get what you pay for.” This saying is especially true in web development – simply because there is just so much competition!
Here are some tips on how to start a new web site:
A. Buy one on eBay (Pretty cheap, and quick!)
This may sound absurd, but it’s for real. At this very second, there are dozens of websites for sale on eBay. The benefit of buying a website on eBay is that everything has been pre-made for you! All you have to do is find a good deal, and make sure that you don’t pay too much. When it comes to eBay, $50 US is a good price to pay for a pre-packed website. Occasionally, someone is selling a website that they developed which already has many members – the members are what you will be paying for as these members are extremely valuable. Anyone can create a website – but it takes time, money, and energy to bring in the members.
Chances are pretty likely that a website that you are buying on eBay has been bought 50 times before. In 2007, Google has started to penalize websites for duplicate content. This means that if your website has text that is on 500 other websites, don’t expect good search placement when a users searches for your keywords.
Personally, I have had decent results with websites bought on eBay, but you need to make sure that you either re-write the text on the website, or do a search on Google to make sure that your content is not on 1000 other websites. I once bought a website off eBay only to find out that the articles on the website I bought could easily be found on over 50,000 other websites!
When trying to search for other websites with your content, follow these steps:
1. Highlight 3 or 4 sentences from your website
2. Open your web browser and go to www.google.com
3. In the SEARCH bar, type in a quotation mark (“)
4. Paste the text that you took from your website
5. Put a quotation mark at the end
6. Press search
If your search returns a LOT of search results, grab another few sentences and try it again. If you continue to have high search results, then your content is most likely all over the internet, and it may not be a good investment. However, even if the content is all over the internet, it may still be a good investment – if you’re interested in taking the time to create entirely new content!
Last comment about eBay – if you buy a website from eBay, hosting is always a question. While most people who are selling websites are hosting them, I would always recommend a third party hosting company. You can find great deals on hosting through my company, Synergy75.com.
B. Build your own website
This can potentially be a great way to start your website. Doing so will save you money and you’ll also be able to customize your website exactly how you see fit. This also ensures that you have 100% original content. It would be ideal for you to create your own site, but beware! Your website must look professional. If you do not have the ability to create a professional looking website, then don’t bother. Again, you get what you pay for!
C. Hire a local web development firm.
Though often the most costly route, hiring a web development firm to create your website for you is always the best way to start off. Any good development firm will be able to add a content management system of some sort which will allow you to edit your own website easier than sending an email.
I’m (of course) partial to my own development company, Synergy75.com. I employ 6 developers from across the country. We have some of the best designers and coders in the industry today and can offer some amazing deals (especially to new customers!)
D. Hire a freelancer
The only website that I would recommend to hire a freelance from would be www.GetAFreeLancer.com. Before I created Synergy75.com, I used this service extensively, and I still use them on occation. You are allowed to post your first project for free, then freelancers bid on the project, and communicate through the website. Finally, you can choose a provider and deposit money into an escrow account. The money is not released to the provider until the project is 100% completed to your specifications.
2. Buy a domain name and sign up for web hosting services.
If you bought a turnkey website on eBay or anywhere else, then chances are pretty good that your website has also come with a domain name. If it has not, you’ll need to get one. This is a simple and cheap task!
A. Decide on a domain name.
First, choose the domain name that you’d like to have. A domain name is the address or URL (universal resource link) that you type into your address bar to navigate to any website. Generally speaking, it starts with a www and ends with a .com, .org, .net, .info, or .co.uk. It should be easy to read and relevant to your site. For instance, if your site is about quitting smoking, then you don’t want a website www.chocolatelovers.com.
B. Check to see if someone has already taken that domain name.
Again, this is another simple step. You need to navigate to www.GoDaddy.com and look for this box:
Enter your domain and press Go! When you do, it will tell you if you are able to purchase your domain name, or if someone already has. If it is available, purchase it. It then belongs to you!
C. Find a hosting provider.
Now you need to find a hosting company to “host” your website. Hosting is basically the physical place that your website sits – usually on a computer in a warehouse somewhere in the world. I rent an entire server from LiquidWeb because they have decent hosting packages that are affordable, plus 24 hour customer support.
HINT: If you are a UK citizen, buy hosting from America! As I am writing this article, the dollar is worth less than half of the GBP. That basically means that you get HALF PRICE monthly payments!
D. Change your domain’s name server to point to your new hosting.
When you have acquired hosting and need to point your domain name to this hosting, it’s time to change your name server. This is the sort of tasks that could be confusing to a beginner, so I’ll try to explain clearly. (Note, when you sign up to my hosting services, we will do this for you) Your name server is what tells your domain what to “show” to someone who types it in. It’s basically the link between what you type into your browser window and the data that is displayed.
Go to the website that you bought your domain name from (IE GoDaddy.com) and log in. Somewhere in your account settings will be a section that says something like “Manage My Domains” or “Advanced Settings” or something along those lines. Click on it, and it should have something that says “Change Name Servers.”
You basically need to copy the name server that your new hosting account has sent to you, and put them into this section in your account. A typical name server looks something like NS1.SYNERGY75.COM. There should be an NS1 and an NS2 number. Copy and paste them both. If you have any trouble, don’t hesitate to call customer support.
3. Install You Website
If you chose to build your own website then you will need to upload these files to your server. To do this, you’ll need an FTP program such as SmartFTP or CoffeeCup FREE FTP which can both be downloaded from www.download.com.
Then, you will need to find out what your FTP information is. The general standard is the following:
ftp.example.com
Username: root
Password: example_password
The FTP program you choose should be able to tell you the rest. Once you are connected, you need to upload your files – but make sure you name your home page index.html or index.htm in order for your server to see it as your, “home” page.
In most cases, if you’ve bought your website from eBay or paid for custom development, the professional organization you bought from will handle the installation for you.
All you have to do now is market your website!
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