How to build a web-site (for dummies) from start to finish...HELP!

Me | 07/04/02 | Me

[kcvl]

Where do I start? I am the dummie referenced in the headline. And, how do I choose a webhost?

[kcvl]

HELP!!!

[Michael Barnes]

Your no dummy partner...It's becoming complex anymore..If you want an "easy" way to start with, I reccommend going to Tucows and checking out their web authoring tools based on the platform you are using..Many of the apps will help you design a site through GUI and after that you can look at the code it creates.

Second, webhosting? Well, you need to ask yourself how much traffic your expecting to receive first. I am on broadband and run my site off DSL (my site is for family only, so I only get approx 100 hits a month max). Some broadband providers do not allow http or ftp servers though..There is alot out there to host at very resonable prices..You just need to decide early on how much you intend to service..

Somewhat a vague post, I know, but maybe a few suggestions to get you started...
Have a good 4th...be safe..

[ex-Texan]

You can aso go to Geocities [Or is it Yahoo/Geocities now?] where they have a simple web design format. You may teach yourself HTML with their web authoring tools. Once you know basic HTML you can try different web design programs and launch them on Geocities and work out the kinks.

Then you may be ready to launch you own web page on any ISP you want.

[kcvl]

Thanks for your suggestions!

[DennisR]

Okay, I might get hit by the anti-Microsofties, but I do a fair amount of website stuff and use FrontPage. It is very basic, yes, but it sounds like that is all you need anyway. If you use any Microsoft products, you will find it to be similar in look and feel. You do not need to know HTML. Then look for a webhoster with FrontPage extensions. One I know of is datapipe.com. I have worked with them for a few years and find them very responsive and helpful.

[kcvl]

Thanks!

[toenail]

A FReeper mentioned http://www.webstrikesolutions.com the other day.

[fellowpatriot]

Knowing HTML isn't all that's involved. You must also be able to design a page that is "user friendly" - make sure it is easy to use and not cluttered. Speed is also important, nobody likes to wait for pictures or graphics to load so use them sparingly.

Good Luck!

[Michael Barnes]

You damn Microsoft types...

Joking..Actually, MSFP is one of the few products that I really like from MS...Like you say, straight forward and easy to use. It creates a good skeleton site..I know you can do more, but for basic user needs, it really does fit the billet.

[Michael Barnes]

"user friendly" is key..I howl at the sites with no TOC..just one Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooon g page...Big time no-no..

[airedale]

First thing you need to do is to decide how much traffic you expect both. Not only do you need to look at the amount of hits you expect to get per month but the quantity of data that's going to be transferred. You pay for the bandwidth. If you guess wrong it can be very expensive.

Here is a web site that has some good suggestions: http://specials.ft.com/ftit/ap ril2002/FT3C3N5520D.html and this is another one http://www.marketingchallenge. com/articles/webhost.html

Second you need to think about what you are willing to live with in terms of size. Your current provider may give you enough free space to satisfy your needs or you might need a whole lot more. Also if it's a commercial site you need to be aware of your ISP's polices in several areas. The first is do they allow commercial business to be run from the web space that comes with your account. A lot don’t others allow you to use it for certain specific uses like a small business or a local charity. Most forbid you to use it for an adult site. Each web hosting company has slightly different rules.

You need to decide if you are going to use your own computer for the sever or theirs (better to use theirs they have a lot more backup which is another thing you need to check on along with their UPS systems and backup polices. Nothing worse than losing everything because they crash and don’t back up frequently enough. You also want to make sure that they have backup facilities elsewhere. If they don’t and there’s a fire your business is shut down until they get back up or you find a new host and get everything up and running. You should look for a backup facility that’s not subject to the same natural disaster. Two locations a block away from each other in southern Florida isn’t much protection during hurricane season. The same applies for earthquakes on the west coast or flooding in a lot of the country.

There’s probably a few other things that you need to look into but now your ready to start looking for a web host company. First start with your own ISP and see what they offer. Who knows they might be exactly what your looking for and even offer you the web tools to set up the site and maintain the site. Earthlink for example does. I’d go to Google and search for low cost web hosting and low cost web hosting ratings or reviews. The last one will pull up some services that do some comparisons but it’s very much let the buyer beware. Some of the really low cost services make up the price by placing ads on your pages. If that’s acceptable to you to keep down costs then you need to find out what kind of ads. If your running a nursery school you don’t want them putting ads for a porno site on your page. Here is a good site to start with: http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_ and_Economy/Business_to_Busine ss/Communications_and_Networki ng/Internet_and_World_Wide_Web /Network_Service_Providers/Hos ting/Web_Site_Hosting/Director ies/

When evaluating the sites remember that a lot of these companies may be gone in a short while just like WorldCom.

[Starwind]

You need to decide what your 'website' will do.
- will you host it or someone else, on what OS?
- e-Business transactions?
- database access?
- browser access only or XML, webservices, api access?
- security, certificates, administration?

Or just putting a few pages?

[kcvl]

Know I AM TOTALLY CONFUSED!

First of all, it's a small business. Second, FIRST STEP FIRST. I need to figure out HOW TO MAKE THE THING! I want it SIMPLE! I have a store name that I will use. The site needs to contain pictures of items, descriptions, allows customer to use all types of credit cards and be EASY to use.

This is going to take me a LITTLE(ha!) time to figure out. I appreciate ANY AND ALL HELP! I am a VERY SLOW learner so PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME!!!

[kcvl]

What is OS? What do you mean by hosting it? I thought that's what I was going to pay for once I got the website done. Database access? Browser access/XML, api? Gosh, maybe I don't want to try this afterall! Surely it HAS GOT to be MORE simple than that! PLEASE tell me it's NOT that hard! I'm not stupid just SLOW!

[kcvl]

What about this place? Homestead Anyone have a HORRIBLE experience with them? Suggestions?

[kcvl]

Forget the above post DON'T like it. Frontpage small business e-commerce for Aspen Candles looks nice. That's kind of the thing I'm looking for.

[kcvl]

Check out this site... Aspen Bay Candles

[bobwoodard]

First of all, it's a small business. Second, FIRST STEP FIRST. I need to figure out HOW TO MAKE THE THING! I want it SIMPLE! I have a store name that I will use. The site needs to contain pictures of items, descriptions, allows customer to use all types of credit cards and be EASY to use.

That's quite a few things there to get right, when you're first starting out. I'd suggest setting up a small informational site for your business now and then worry about the ecomm later.

Regardless of what tools you use to create the site, there are going to be gotchas and the simpler the site, the easier those things are going to be to figure out.

[Starwind]

OS is Operating System - Unix, Windows, Linux, etc.

The fact that you want to do credit card transactions for your store suggests several things:
1) You'll want security - you might check out Verisign.
2) You'll need a shopping cart application (so your customers can pick what they want to buy
3) You'll need a database to hold stock numbers, quantity, descriptions, customer shopping cart content, customer shipping address.
4) youll need a search function to customers can find the stuff they want to put in their cart
5) you'll need order fulfillment - after they buy, someone has to get a notice or a screen that shows what to put in a box and ship it to the customers address, and UPS or whomever, needs to be notifoed to stop by your store and pickup the shipment.

I suggest you go to amazon.com and pretend to select and buy a book - heck buy a book so you go all the way through the whole 9-yards, at each step imagine you're a customer using your web store, but it doesn't have to be as fancy as amazon.com, but the experience should help you clarify what you need to provide.

The book you buy on amazon.com ought to a book that explains building e-commerce websites.

If you can afford some professional help, at least get some sales presentations or proposals made to you by consultants(sales stuff is usually free education) to help explain what you'll need to do.

Then think about it.

[Mr Fowl]

My rule of thumb on building webpages is to base each webpage load time on 28,000 or 56k phone modem connection speed.

Remember, not everyone in cyber space has cable modems.

And also remember to keep the byte size of all images as low as you can on your pages. The lower the byte size of your images = faster page load time...

If its one thing that people hate the most is a webpage that takes forever to load.

After I have all my files loaded on my ftp I will have a watch in front of me and I will time the load time of my pages.

If I find a page taking to long to load I will make changes (Reducing Image Byte size, etc, etc). Then ill reupload the files on my ftp.

I will then clear all the files thats in my Cach folders and do a fresh page load timing the load time with my watch again.

Good Luck
BOB
Delaware Bay Waterfowler