Adsense

now you can earn money

2008-06-20T21:58:00.001-07:00

now you can earn money by just only place

ad on your site just click below link

& just sign up as publisher

Free Adsense ,E-book Turn Key

2008-06-11T05:59:00.001-07:00

Get any E-book or script for free - Free Adsense ebooks on Emule

2008-06-11T05:56:00.001-07:00

we don't call this piracy I personally call it "sharing" , well.. when you buy a book and you give it to your friend to read it that was sharing, when you buy a software and send a copy to your friend that was sharing too ...
now follow this tutorial to get any AdSense e-book, turnkey, script or anything you desire from chatting to hacking is right there, but please don't use anything on cheating AdSense or generating fake traffic .
1- Download E-mule P2P client installer "Peer to peer file sharing software" .
2- Install the software and then connect to one of the servers listed on it .
you will find about 4 million users already connected and sharing billions of files .
3- Go to the search tab and write AdSense .
This is what are you going to get, this is a secret that every AdSense publisher finds hides, but not me ...

You can also downoad mp3's, software and others using this way, but make sure to scan any files you download before running them .

50 Ready made website for AdSense - Free

2008-06-11T05:53:00.001-07:00

50 Ready made website for AdSense - Free

Download:
[LINK DISABLED]
lot of other websites started sharing the link, Megashare diabled it .
tons of people downloaded it, now we finished .
First of all I want to tell that ready made AdSense is crap, they don't get you banned but they will never get indexed or Crawled, I am putting them here for you to download for free, so you don't have to Pay 100$ to the spammers around and get a 50 crap site .
you can use them as an articles resouerce .
The Exe file contain the following sites + Auto directories and Search engines submitter and the famous Search and replace program :
"Dominate Adsense version"
Fishing.zip
HomeBusiness.zip
Advertising.zip
Debtconsolidation.zip
Dogs.zip
Domainnames.zip
Flyfishing.zip
Food.zip
Freestuff.zip
Homeimprovement.zip
Homeschool.zip
Horses.zip
Lasvegas.zip
Legal.zip
Makemoney.zip
Onlinedegrees.zip
Parenting.zip
Pets.zip
Religion.zip
Sailing.zip
Spyware.zip
Television.zip
Videogames.zip
Webdesign.zip
Writing.zip
Carsite.zip
Onlineshoppingnew
Cats.zip
Cooking.zip
Dating.zip
Ebayauction.zip
Electronics.zip
Emailmarketing.zip
Getpaid.zip
Giftbaskets.zip
Golf.zip
Hotels.zip
Humor.zip
Kidsteens.zip
Mortgages.zip
Movies.zip
Music.zip
Pregnancy.zip
Realestate.zip
Recipes.zip
Stressmanagement.zip
Studentloans.zip
Taxdeductions.zip
Webhosting.zip
Wedding.zip
Women.zip
Travelsite.zip
Creditrepairsite.zip
Websitepromotionsite.zip
Affiliatemarketingsite.zip
Casinosite.zip
Dietsite.zip14.05MB
I didn't buy them, you can find them online, but it's the hardest part ever .

123

2008-06-09T01:05:00.001-07:00

Where’s the best place to put Google Adsense Ads?

2008-06-09T01:01:00.001-07:00

Why, on your web pages of course. Ok, just kidding. The real question should be: “Is there really any truth to the rumors that where you place those Google AdSense ads can actually improve response?” According to my best information, the answer to that question is: Yes.
Google’s own AdSense experts say that that there is a direct correlation between the placement of the AdSense ads and the resulting clickthrough.
When ads are placed in “content zones”, rather than in “advertising zones”, response rates on Google AdWords goes up. There are also indications showing that ads appearing on the right side of the page get clicked more than ads appearing on the left side.
Advertising analysts with degrees in human behavior and psychology have spent thousands of man-years (people-years?) studying how people read printed and Internet content and what it takes to get them to respond to ads. While some of these studies are proprietary, or are only available to anyone with $10,000 or more to spend on a copy, other studies have been made public and can be read by anyone who is interested.
Google themselves has released some relevant information which is focused directly on increasing your Google AdSense response. You can read their findings here (https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/static.py?page=tips.html).
Of course, all of the studies in the world aren’t worth a hill of beans if the findings don’t work on your web site. That’s why it is important to test, test and test again. Experiment with your Google AdSense placement and track the results over a period of time. Google provides response tracking tools in your AdSense control panel. Learn how to use them. As you begin to see what may be only subtle differences in response, you’ll be able to determine what works best for your particular site. But don’t get complacent. What’s working for you now might not work next month if you change your site design or content.
One of the most important factors in determining placement of your ads is the type of content that your site delivers. If you are primarily an e-commerce site, and you have a lot of pictures and ad copy for your own products competing for attention against AdSense ads, then it is going to be a particularly tough challenge getting any kind of decent Google AdSense clickthrough. It is situations like this that require very thorough testing and a lot of trial and error.
Blogs seem to have a lot of success generating high response rates to Google AdSense listings. Perhaps it’s because blog readers realize that ad revenue is the only way that their favorite blogmaster can keep the lights on, so the readers think of clicking on ads as a way to make a donation.
Regardless of what the experts say, your best bet is to tailor your Google AdSense ad placement to what your own experience shows works best for you. In the end, you’re the only expert who matters.
About the author:
Diane provides marketing and internet profit tips.
For more Google AdSense tips, visit http://www.adsense.deeljeabiz.com
Email : deeljeabiz@gmail.com

6 Easy Ways to Increase your Adsense Revenue

2008-06-09T01:00:00.001-07:00

How much revenue do you generate from Google Adsense?
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about people who earn over $10,000 a month just from Adsense. Furthermore, there are rumors of a few individuals who earn over $1 million a year just from using the power of Google advertisements.
So what is Google Adsense and how can you use this program to earn a six-figure income?
About two years ago, Google created this program to help websites to monetize their web-traffic.
Here's how it works:
Webmasters obtain a special code from Google which then displays targeted ads on their website. Whenever a visitor clicks on one of these ads, the webmaster earns a commission. Unlike other online businesses, there is no selling involved. All you need to do is get people to click on the ads.
Although this is an excellent way to generate an income, many websites are not effectively maximizing their Adsense potential. As a result, they are leaving a lot of cash on the table.
The question is how can you increase your Adsense revenue without increasing the number of web visitors?
The key to earning an income with Google Adsense is to have your ads match the rest of the site, making them look like part of your content. Your focus is to avoid having the Adsense blocks look like blatant advertisements.
The following are six ways that you can do this and increase your revenue at the same time:
1) Find the right place- Most website visitors read content that is in the middle of a webpage. As a result, the best place to put your Adsense block is in the top part of the page, at the beginning of your web content. You want to weave the Google Ads into your web content to give the appearance that they are extra links which expand on the information of the page.
2) Use the Large Rectangle-With Google Adsense, you have the option of picking different ad formats. Most of the time people opt to use the Leaderboard (728x90) or Wide Skyscraper (160x600) style ads. Unfortunately, this is the wrong choice, because both look like blatant advertisements. Instead smart webmasters have found that using the Large Rectangle (336x280) yields the best amount of click-thrus.
3) Ditch the border- Many people experience a sharp increase in Adsense revenue when they changing their border. What they change is very simple…they get rid of the border on their Adsense blocks. This is another way to make the advertisements look like useful web content.
4) Adapt the font- Whenever you write content, it should be the same font size and style as your Google Adsense block. This will help make it appear that the advertisements are a natural part of your website.
5) Match the colors- In addition to changing the fonts, you also should match the colors of your website. For instance, if your content is written in black, and your hyperlinks are blue, then the Adsense blocks should also be the same color. Again, this helps the advertisements appear to be normal web content.
6) Don't have too many distractions- On a webpage, it is important to give web visitor a limited number of options. By having too many links and graphics, the web visitor might go to a section that doesn't help increase your profits. While it is important to inform and entertain your web visitor, it is also vital that you monetize your site. So if the main focus of your site is to earn an income through Google Adsense, then get rid of all non-essential links and graphics.
By taking the time to implement these six simple steps, you'll see a dramatic increase in the click-thru ratio of your ads. If added to all of the content of your site, your Adsense income will skyrocket!
About the author:
Scott J. Patterson earns over $12,000 a month, mostly through Google Adsense. To read about this and other home businesses you can try, download his fr*e ebook, The Secret-Guide to Home Businesses: http://www.duncemoney.com/adsense.html

Is Click Fraud Really a Problem?

2008-06-08T23:32:00.001-07:00

Click fraud is currently a major topic in online advertising. Many argue that it presents a threat to the stability and viability of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, the key revenue generator for both Google and Overture. In actuality, click fraud is not a significant issue at all.
Click fraud occurs when ads are clicked for reasons other than a genuine interest in learning more about the product or service advertised. Click fraud occurs in two forms. In one instance, fraud arises from competitors trying to sabotage each other. One competitor clicks on the ads of another just to drain the budget of that company. The other instance occurs when webmasters (or people associated with the webmaster) repeatedly click Google AdSense ads (which are syndications of others’ ads) on their own web pages in order to generate more revenue. While both Overture and Google have developed sophisticated technologies to detect click fraud, their systems are, and may never be, foolproof.
The real question is how much does click fraud actually damage the PPC industry? Gross fraud, i.e., when one person or technology consistently and repeatedly clicks on an ad, aside, which Overture and Google can easily detect, we believe that click fraud has no real impact on the industry. The following explains why.
Efficient market theory says that it is impossible to “beat a market” because prices already incorporate and reflect all relevant information. As the PPC industry has matured, efficiency has begun to take root. That is, the price of each keyword has been driven up to the point where it reflects the highest price an advertiser is willing to pay for a click.
For instance, a book retailer may pay $1.00 per click based on internal metrics. These metrics dictate, for example, that on average 30% of clickers purchase a book and the average profit per sale is $4.00. So, for every 100 clicks ($100 cost), they make 30 sales ($120 revenue) and generate a $20.00 (20%) profit. Note that years ago, the same retailer may have been able to pay only $0.50 per click, but as the market matured and more retailers began advertising, competitive bidding forced the price up to $1.00 where the highest return the most advertisers can make is 20%.
The key point is that click fraud is already taken into effect when advertisers select the highest amount they will bid. For instance, there is no difference whether an advertiser pays $0.83/click for 121 clicks with 21 being fraudulent, or $1.00/click for 100 clicks when there is absolutely no fraud. In either case, the advertiser pays $100 and generates a profit of $20, and Overture and/or Google make $100. What changes is the advertiser’s yield (e.g., the percent of clickers who purchased the book) which in turn effects their highest bid price. That is, with fraud, 30 out of 121 clickers (24.8%) purchased the book, and without fraud 30 out of 100 clickers (30%) purchased it. Without fraud, the bid price in an efficient market will rise from $0.83 to $1.00.
In summary, online advertisers must focus on analyzing and improving their internal metrics (e.g., conversions) and not worry about click fraud as it is already incorporated into keyword bid prices. Hopefully, the frivolous lawsuits and refund requests spawned by apparent click fraud will end as those in the industry recognize this undeniable fact.

All Articles

2008-01-30T00:08:00.001-08:00

All Articles

Targeted Web Site Traffic- All website traffic isn't equal.

More Traffic=More Sales?- Will increasing your website traffic get you more sales?

Website Research For Small Business Websites-How to conduct basic keyword research for your business website

The Geography of Web Hosting-Is the physical local of you website important to your search results?

How to Plan your website- If your just starting with your website start it with a plan

What is The Robots.txt file and How to use it, create it and check it for errors

Google Analytics- Using Google Analytics to monitor your website performance.

Handling Repetitive Content - How to handle content that need including on several pages without having to manually add it to each page

Adding Repetitive Content Using PHP-How to add Repetitive Content Using PHP- the basics of a cms system

Using FrontPage webbot for Page Includes- How to include web pages inside other web pages for repetitive content using FrontPage.

Apache .htaccess File Help For Non Techies - What is the apache .htaccess file, how and why it is used

Google Sitemaps and Webmaster Tools- Google proved some very useful webmaster tools as part of Google sitemaps and you don't need to submit a sitemap to use them.

Yahoo sitemaps- What are Yahoo sitemaps? How to create, upload and authenticate them

Websites For Service Professionals and Consultants - Mini Course aimed at consultants and service professionals looking to promote their business on the Internet using a website.

Joomla Overview -What is Joomla? What are the requirements for using it and how is it used?

Paying for Traffic- Should you pay for your traffic? There are many instances were paying for it is really to best option and sometimes the only one.

Creating a Contact Us Page - Every website needs to provide contact details. So How do you create a Contact Us Page. Links to a 4 part how to series on creating and implementing a contact form.

Article Writing and the Resource Box- Quick guide to Article Writing and the Article Resource Box

Are Ready Made Website Templates for You?- Ready or pre-made website templates may not be the ideal choice for the beginner. Discover the possible problems before you commit yourself

Building Affiliate Websites - The two main types of affiliate website and how to build them

Starting a Business website - Starting a website requires that you understand the various aspects of building a website and how part of the process can be done

A travel Site- Do you have a holiday villa or property that you would like to rent? or just passionate about a destination? Thought about your own travel site.

The Long Tail -What it means to your site and pages and how it affects your Keywords and Search rankings

Is Your Website Letting You Down?-What is the main purpose of you web site? How will you be found? If you don't know the answers then your website is probably not working for you.

Websites and Email- Websites and Email. What email capabilities do you get with your site and how do you use it.

Website Content Management Systems- An Overview of Website Content Management systems. What they are and why they are useful and who should use them.

Add Video To Your Website Using Microsoft FrontPage- Short Tutorial

How to Add Multi-Media to Your website- More and more websites are using Multi-media. Here we look at how you can add Video and sound to your website.

How to Password Protect Web Pages/Website

2008-01-30T00:07:00.009-08:00

How to Password Protect Web Pages/Website

Some parts of your web site may be private. So how do you restrict access to those web pages? The answer is to password protect those pages. Anyone who wants access is then required to enter a valid username and password in order to view them.

Membership websites either paid of free (requiring registration) typically require a password to be entered in order to view certain web pages.

However you don't need to be providing a membership website in order to require access restrictions on some web pages. You may have a family website for family members only, or a download area that you want to restrict access to.

Password Protection Methods

There are two main ways password protect is achieved

Using scripting (Usually JavaScript but php and asp can be used)
Using Server based password protection.

Using JavaScript Scripting

This type of password protection doesn't require anything special on the server but does require that the the browser support and enable JavaScript.

Generally the way these pages work is to send the user to a opening page that requires the username/password to be entered. If they enter it correctly they are then re-directed to the correct page.

They can be very simple scripts with the username and password embedded in the page but only viewable in source mode to more complex ones where the password/username is encrypted and hence more secure. You can also get scripts that support multiple users.

Here is an example of a script in action. The username is steve and the password in password. Click to reset

the example is

Here is the script that checks for the username and password I've highlighted the username and password in yellow:

For increased security you should implement it as an external script. Here is the script and form page (opens in new window). Just view the source and copy the contents, and edit as needed. There are many other scripts available here.

Although they are very simple to implement they are not really that secure as once the visitor has visited the real page he can book mark it and return without going through the login page.

There are commercial scripts available like htmlock which are designed for protecting multiple files and overcome the above problems by encrypting the web pages. These also introduce their own difficulties, as the files are encrypted and can only be edited by decrypting them.

PHP and ASP Scripts

These are similar to the JavaScript examples but instead the scripts are run on the server and hence require that the server supports that script. Each page that requires protection needs to be edited to include the script. Here is a free php script if you want to investigate further.

Server based Password Protection

This is by far the best and most secure option. However it does require that your host supports it. Your Hosting provider will provide control through a control panel where you can configure the protected directories and username/passwords.

The problem with this approach is that it requires manual setup and is only really used in a semi-static environment. Meaning there aren't many users and they don't change often. It is often used to provide access for newsletter readers (and similar) to private parts of a site. The trick to keeping it secure being to change the password regularly and notify the members by email of the password change.

For a more complex membership type system, were the visitor can create and edit his own username and password, you need a fully fledged membership site system. These are normally written in php, perl or asp and usually require database (MYSQL, SQL or access) support.

You should ensure that your host supports the necessary components before you purchase a membership system.

How to Plan your Website

2008-01-30T00:07:00.007-08:00

How to Plan your Website

Do you know why you want a website and what that website is going to do for you/your business?

The first stage in building your site is deciding What do you want the Website to Do?

This may seem a pretty obvious question but it is often a question that most website owners never seem to ask themselves. It is also probably the main reason why many website owners are unhappy with their website performance.

So before you begin make sure you ask yourself these questions.

Why do I want a website?
Will I need to update the site frequently?
Will I sell products from the website?
Will I use the website to attract new customers?
Will the website simply be a brochure for the company?
What will my website visitors expect to see?
Will I have private parts of the site?
Will I publish a newsletter?
How much am I prepared to pay?
Will I be doing it myself?

Website Research

For business Websites it is important to target the right keywords. You need to to be aware of what search terms searchers will use to find the service/product that your site offers.

Building it Yourself or Outsourcing

Once you have a general idea of what you want from your website you can then move on to the second stage of deciding who will be doing what.

As with any project you can either:

Do it Yourself or Have someone do it for you or a mixture of the two.

Generally speaking outsourcing will mainly be considered by business website owners but is an option regardless of website type- business or personal.

Outsourcing doesn't necessary just mean getting someone to do some work for you. It can, and often does, mean buying a package/service that does the work.

This is very common and even very experienced webmasters do this. As an example if you want a to establish a newsletter and your host doesn't provide one or the one it provides is inadequate you can either write one your self or use an existing autoresponder service.

Your level of expertise and how much time you are willing to commit will determine to a great extent how much you will outsource. Generally the more technically capable you are and the more time you can devote then the more you can do yourself.

Website Types

In general there are three site types:

Business Websites (includes non profit/charity sites)- For existing businesses wanting a website
Website businesses- For new website owners wanting to build a website as a business (i.e. to make money from). Although the technical details are much the same as for other site types there is an additional level of research involved in the site planning. This is covered in more detail in Building an online business with niche websites
Personal Websites- For individuals/clubs who want a site

How to Register a Domain Name

2008-01-30T00:07:00.005-08:00

How to Register a Domain Name

The domain registrar I used was www.1and1.co.uk who also host this website. The procedure shown consists of approximately 9 basic steps all carried out using the Web browser:

Choose Domain Name (see above).
Check if Domain Name is free (see above).
If free proceed to registration
If you have an existing account with the registrar then sign in
If you are a new customer enter your personal details i.e. name, address etc.
Choose a username and password so you can sign in latter to manage your account.
Enter credit card details.
Review order and agree registration policy of the registrar.
Receive confirmation screen and follow up via email.

The following show the process of registering a domain name The screens that you will see when doing this may not be the same but the process will be very similar. In this example only the name was registered.

If you are an existing customer there is no need to register and you use your user name and password to logon and order the new domain name. Otherwise you must register by providing your name, address and credit card details.

You may be asked to choose a user name and password at any stage between or you may be provided with one by the registrar. You are usually notified by email of the name and password. You will use this to logon and manage your domain name later on. Make sure you keep a copy of any emails.

Managing Your Domain Name

If you now connect to your Website you will probably see something similar to that displayed in figure 1 below. This is what is known as domain parking. Because you haven't told your registrar what to do with you domain name he has given you a temporary Website with a default Under Construction notice.

Most Domain Name registrars provide this facility as part of the registration fee. If they didn't then when you attempted to connect to the Website you would get a browser error message saying domain not found which tends to imply that it doesn't exist when you know that it does.

You are now in position to manage the domain .Most Domain Name registrars will provide a facility that allows you to do this via the Web called a control panel.

Related Articles and Resources:

Make Your Own Web Page Tutorial-Using and Learning HTML

2008-01-30T00:07:00.003-08:00

Make Your Own Web Page Tutorial-Using and Learning HTML

Learning how to make your own web page using HTML isn't strictly necessary in order to make your own website.

There are many tools (web page editors) which make leaning HTML unnecessary for making a web page.

However you will find that a basic knowledge of HTML makes it much easier to insert scripts like Google Adsense and website counters etc correctly into your web pages.

What Is A Web Page?

Web Pages are simply text pages with special formatting Tags which describe how the text appears i.e. is it bold, which font etc. This formatting is called HTML- Hypertext Mark-up Language.

Although knowledge of HTML is not required in order to make web pages you will find that learning a bit of basic HTML very worthwhile.

Furthermore there are many good free HTML editors available allowing you to make your own web pages for free.

Make Your own Web Page - An Introduction to
HTML

Here you are going to familiarise yourselves with HTML and at the same time make a Web page.

The tool we will use to make your first Web page is a simple text editor called Notepad, which is available for free on all versions of windows. I recommend you follow these exercises on your own computer.

Make Your own Web Page Exercise 1

Open Notepad and type the following:

Make Your own Web pages-for free

Save the file as my-first-web-page.txt in a directory on
your computer (e.g. C:\webs\BYO directory).

Close Notepad and then open the File my-first-web-page.txt in notepad. Notepad should display my-first-web-page.txt as shown in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1. text page displayed by notepad

What you have created is a simple text file meant to be
read by a text editor or word processor and it is displayed correctly.

Make Your own Web Page Exercise 2

Now open the file my-first-web-page.txt in notepad and change it
to the following:

<HTML>

Make Your own Web pages-for free

</HTML>

Then save the file as my-first-web-page.txt.Open the file again using notepad. Notepad should display my-first-web-page.txt as shown in Figure 2 below:

Figure 2. An HTML page as displayed by notepad

Notepad doesn't know that <HTML> is actually a formatting tag and not meant to be displayed, so it displays it as normal text.

Now save the file this time as my-first-web-page.htm and then open it again.

This time it should open with Internet Explorer. Internet explorer should display my-first-web-page.htm as shown in Figure 3 below:

Figure
3. An HTML page as displayed by Internet Explorer

Notice that the <HTML> tags are missing as the browser knows what to do with them and uses them to structure and format the text but doesn't display them.

The file extension .htm or .txt defines what application is used to open the file .txt files are opened by Notepad and .htm or .HTML extensions are opened by Internet Explorer. Lets examine this is in a little more detail.

Make Your own Web Page - Part 3

2008-01-30T00:07:00.001-08:00

Make Your own Web Page - Part 3

We are now going to make links to another document and also a link to a place in the same document.

Exercise 4

Make a new page called page2.htm with the following text.

<HTML>

<HEAD>

<TITLE>Making your own Pages -Page 2</TITLE>

</HEAD>

<BODY>

<h1>This is Page 2</h1>

</BODY>

</HTML>

Then modify the index.htm page so that it contains the following: ( tip: use cut and paste ).

<HTML>

<HEAD>

<TITLE>Home page of Making your own Website-for free </TITLE>

</HEAD>

<BODY>

<h1>Welcome to the Home page of Making your own Website-for free .</h1>

<p><a name="Introduction">Introduction</a></p>

<p>This is the first section of the page. The heading introduction is an anchor and is linked to later in the document.</p>

<h4>This is a link to a new document called <a href="page2.htm">making a free web page</a></h4>

<p>This is text contained in a paragraph and should be enclosed in paragraph tags. You can insert any text you want here</p>

<p> </p>

<p>This is a new paragraph.</p>

<p>This is a link to the beginning of the page useful for quick navigation through a long page <a href="#Introduction">Introduction</a> .This type

of link is used if the page covers more than one screen.</p>

<p> </p>

</BODY>

</HTML>

Open the file index.htm with Internet explorer the result should be as shown in Figure 7:

Figure 7: index page with a link shown in blue

This is all we need to cover in this series on HTML. You can find an updated version in Starting Html. In reality you only need a very basic understanding of HTML in order to create Web pages because the editing tool (see web page editors) takes care of the HTML coding.

Creating a Web page today is like creating a document using a word processor and most of the word processors today are capable of creating HTML or converting text documents into HTML documents.

However, in spite of this it is well worth the effort if you can manually edit an HTML Web page.

The best way to learn is to fully understand what we have done here and then get yourself an HTML book for a reference.

Web Page Names and Extensions Web Page Titles

For our home page we have used the page name index.htm. You may have seen others called index.html or home.htm. So what is the significance of these names and how do you name web pages?

This is covered in web page names and the home Page

Extensions .htm and .html

You will notice that we are using index.htm and not index.html. This is simply convention if your ISP tells you to use index.html then all of your pages should have a .html extension. If you can choose and usually you can then I prefer the .htm extension (its shorter).

<-----Make your own web Page- part2

<-----Make your own web Page part1

Useful links for learning more HTML:

Make your own Web pages -2

2008-01-30T00:06:00.017-08:00

Make your own Web pages -2

Exercise 3

Type the following into notepad and save as index.htm.

<HTML>

<HEAD>

<TITLE>Make Your own Web pages-for free </TITLE>

</HEAD>

<BODY>

<h1>Welcome to the Home page of -Make Your own Web pages-for free .</h1>

<h2>My second Headline </h2>

</BODY>

</HTML>

The above is the basic HTML skeleton structure. HTML documents actually consist of two parts the Header and the body. The Header part contains information that is not displayed by the browser such as script, Meta Tags and Cascading Style sheets. The body part contains the actual document contents.

HTML consists of a series of tags which are enclosed in Triangular brackets (< >).These tags are in pairs and are case-insensitive; that is, it doesn't matter whether you type them in upper or lower case.

Using upper case makes the tags easier to pick out in a document, but you can do whatever you like. The tags are used by the browser for formatting the page but they are not displayed.

Tags typically occur in begin-end pairs. These pairs are in the form

<tag> .... .. </tag>

Where the <tag> indicates the beginning of a tag-pair, and the </tag> indicates the end. (The dots indicate an arbitrary amount of content between the tags. The opening tags can also contain attributes which modify the tag e.g.

<body bgcolor="white">

The first and last tags in a document should always be the HTML tags. These are the tags that tell a Web browser where the HTML in your document begins and ends. The absolute most basic of all possible Web pages is:

<HTML>

</HTML>

That's it. If you were to load such a page into a Web browser, it wouldn't do anything except give you a blank screen, but it is a valid Web page. Next come the header tags <HEAD> and </HEAD>.

The header tags contain all of the document's header information like the document title and so on. They are not displayed by the browser. Between the title tags <TITLE> and </TITLE> you should have the title of your document in this case --Make Your own Web pages-for free.

This will appear at the top of the browser's title bar, and also appears in the history list of the browser and any bookmarks. If you don't type anything between the title tags or don't include the title tags at all then the browser will typically use the actual file name for the title which can be confusing.

Finally the body tags <BODY> and </BODY>, between which
you find everything that gets displayed in the browser window. So if you open index.htm using internet explorer. Internet explorer should display index.htm as shown in Figure 4:

Figure 4. index.htm as displayed by Internet Explorer

Spaces

You can place as many spaces as you want between words as HTML ignores additional spaces.

Therefore if your type in:

the extra spaces are removed

it appears in a browser as

the extra spaces are removed

If you want extra spaces you need to use the code   to denote a non breaking space. Therefore to create 3 extra spaces you enter it three times as here:

Three   extra spaces

Headings

The heading structures are most commonly used to divide sections of text. There are six levels of heading (from H1 to H6) and by default browsers will display the six heading levels in the same font, with the point size decreasing as the importance of the heading decreases. The HTML for Heading tags look like this:

<H1>Text for Heading 1</H1>

They are displayed by the browser as:

This is Heading 1
This is Heading 2
This is Heading 3
This is Heading 4
This is Heading 5
This is Heading 6

Paragraphs

A page is composed of a number of sections separated by headings, each of which is composed of one or more paragraphs. Each paragraph is composed of words, and each word of letters. The beginning of a paragraph is marked by <P>, and the end by </P>. When a browser comes across a <p> tag it starts a new line and adds some vertical white space between the last line and the new line.

Links

Links allow the reader to jump from one section of a document to another section of the document or to a new document altogether. This is shown in Figure 5 below:

Figure 5 linking in an HTML

In order to link you require two things:

The start of the link.
The destination of the link.

The start of the link is called the hotspot and it shows up in the browser as underlined and in normally in blue until it has been clicked. It is designated in HTML by use of the anchor tag <A>. Unlike simple tags the anchor tag has extra attributes which specify the name of the tag (so that it can be linked to) and the destination web page or page section. The form is as shown in Figure 6:

Make your own Web pages

2008-01-30T00:06:00.015-08:00

Make Your Own Web Page Tutorial-Using and Learning HTML

Learning how to make your own web page using HTML isn't strictly necessary in order to make your own website.

There are many tools (web page editors) which make leaning HTML unnecessary for making a web page.

However you will find that a basic knowledge of HTML makes it much easier to insert scripts like Google Adsense and website counters etc correctly into your web pages.

What Is A Web Page?

Web Pages are simply text pages with special formatting Tags which describe how the text appears i.e. is it bold, which font etc. This formatting is called HTML- Hypertext Mark-up Language.

Although knowledge of HTML is not required in order to make web pages you will find that learning a bit of basic HTML very worthwhile.

Furthermore there are many good free HTML editors available allowing you to make your own web pages for free.

Make Your own Web Page - An Introduction to
HTML

Here you are going to familiarise yourselves with HTML and at the same time make a Web page.

Make Your own Web Page Exercise 1

Open Notepad and type the following:

Make Your own Web pages-for free

Save the file as my-first-web-page.txt in a directory on
your computer (e.g. C:\webs\BYO directory).

Close Notepad and then open the File my-first-web-page.txt in notepad. Notepad should display my-first-web-page.txt as shown in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1. text page displayed by notepad

What you have created is a simple text file meant to be
read by a text editor or word processor and it is displayed correctly.

Make Your own Web Page Exercise 2

Now open the file my-first-web-page.txt in notepad and change it
to the following:

<HTML>

Make Your own Web pages-for free

</HTML>

Then save the file as my-first-web-page.txt.Open the file again using notepad. Notepad should display my-first-web-page.txt as shown in Figure 2 below:

Figure 2. An HTML page as displayed by notepad

Notepad doesn't know that <HTML> is actually a formatting tag and not meant to be displayed, so it displays it as normal text.

Now save the file this time as my-first-web-page.htm and then open it again.

This time it should open with Internet Explorer. Internet explorer should display my-first-web-page.htm as shown in Figure 3 below:

Figure
3. An HTML page as displayed by Internet Explorer

Notice that the <HTML> tags are missing as the browser knows what to do with them and uses them to structure and format the text but doesn't display them.

Make Your own Web Page 2-->

Make your Own Web Page Part 3---->

Making a Website With Site Build_it It's Easier Than you Think

2008-01-30T00:06:00.013-08:00

Making a Website With Site Build-it
It's Easier Than you Think!

Are you struggling with the technical aspects of website building or simply just want to build a website with the minimum of fuss?

The traditional web hosting provider has a very technical approach to website building. As a potential website builder you purchase a hosting package that has PHP, MySQL, access to .htaccess etc. You then, using your web design tools (DreamWeaver, FrontPage), build your website.

This, I must admit ,was my initial approach ,and to a certain extent it still is. This approach does mean that you need to attain a reasonable amount of technical know how to succeed, and that is indeed the subject of this website.

An Alternative Approach

It was while I was looking for hosting packages that I came across the Sitebuild-it website. What I found different about Sitebuild-it was it had no mention of PHP, JavaScript, MySQL databases etc. None of the usual technical blurb about Gigabytes, Gigabits, Linux and MS hosting.

Instead it focused simply on building a website, or more accurately, building a website business.

You Don't Need to be a Mechanic

Do you need to learn how to be a car mechanic before you can drive a car ? .. No!.. Then why do you need to be a web expert to build a website?

It is possible to make a Website using Site build-it with the bare minimum knowledge of HTML, and no knowledge of Linux, PHP, Giga... All you really need to be able to do is to be able to cut and paste between two windows.

Site build-it ensures that your Web pages are correctly optimised, takes care of the search engine submission ,search engine monitoring etc leaving you free to concentrate purely on creating the Website content.

Is Site Build-it for Everyone?

Absolutely not! If you are interested in the technical details of making websites, or if you simple want to make a small family or personal website (less than 10 pages) then you are probably much better doing it all yourself.

However if you are more interested in building a website with the minimum technical knowledge then you can try Site Build-it for Free! and see for yourself how easy it really is.

Still have Questions?

Do you have a question about site-build-it? Will it work for you? Why not ask them either through the contact form or on the phone.

Why not read through my site build-it tutorials (below) and learn how easy it is to get your website up and running and getting traffic.

Make a Website with site build-it Tutorials

Mini Websites

2008-01-30T00:06:00.011-08:00

Mini Websites

Mini Websites are typically small (1-5 page websites). The main use of mini websites is for affiliate marketing, where small sales sites (mini-sites) are specially created to sell/promote a particular product or service.

Why Mini Websites?

Most webmasters rely on search engines to deliver them free traffic and hence customers.

In the early days of the web the main source of revenue for webmasters came from affiliate programs and banner advertising.

Search engines, in particular Google, favour content heavy websites. Therefore in order to get reasonable amounts of web traffic webmasters would create large content based websites (see affiliate masters ebook).

This website building model is still practised today and is the one I and many others use. However; heavy content websites (100+ pages) take time to build.

If you have a product that has a short sales life its impractical to build a 100 page website just to promote it. Hence the birth of the mini site, which is a website constructed around either selling or promoting a single product, service or event.

Mini WebSite Problems and Solutions

The problem with these type of sites is that, because they don't have much content, they don't usually rank very well in the search engines. Therefore they cannot rely on free search engine traffic and need to be promoted by other methods - the main ones being:

PPC (pay per click) advertising
Press releases and other offline methods
Email/Ezine announcements.
Articles.

Uses and Design

The main use of mini web sites is for selling/promoting a single product , service or even event like a rock concert. They are also used for customer/product support and feedback.

They consist of a home page + optional pages

Optional pages are typically:

Order page
Contact page
Legal page
Testimonials
FAQ (frequently asked questions)

If you are new to the mini website idea then you may want to see the High performance affiliate marketing and/or the cracking the niche code ebook for more information on using mini-websites for affiliate and product promotion.

Mini Web Site Examples

Here is a screenshot of a website selling the the mini-sites-profits ebook. Notice the 4 links (red circle). This mini site is basically 4 pages home plus testimonials, contact and members.

Making Your Mini Websites

In the How to Make a Website Using Templates Video Tutorial Series I cover how to take a small website template and make your own mini website using it.

Multiple Domain Hosting For Reduced Website Hosting Costs

2008-01-30T00:06:00.009-08:00

Multiple Domain Hosting For Reduced Website Hosting Costs

If you are the owner of several websites then hosting multiple domains on a single hosting account is an excellent way of achieving low cost hosting without having to sacrifice quality.

What many don't realise is that generally you don't purchase a website, you purchase a hosting account.

In some cases this can only be used to host a single domain and hence a single website. In others the account can be used to host multiple domains and hence multiple websites.

Benefits of Hosting Multiple Domains

Because domains are much cheaper than website hosting accounts, choosing an account that offers multiple domain hosting is a far cheaper way of hosting multiple websites at low cost, than purchasing a hosting account for each website.

As an example the hosting provider 1and1 provider (link below)offer a simple hosting package for approx £70 per year and uk domains for approx £2.00 per year. If I have four websites then to host using:

a) separate accounts cost= £70 *4 + 4*2= £288 per year

b) A single account and multiple domains cost = £70 + £2.0 *4=£78 per year.

The saving is £210 per year.

This must be offset by the fact that each of the domains traffic is usually counted together against the single hosting account and if your websites are popular then you may exceed bandwidth and or disk space limits.

In addition you may find that the log files that are provided don't allow you to differentiate between the domains as all the traffic is counted against a single domain.

The Hosting account also has a single password and hence once logged in you can administer each domain. Therefore each domain should belong to you.

Hosting Providers that Support Multiple Domains

Because of the popularity of mini websites and website reselling there are many hosting companies that specialize in providing multiple domain hosting and offer substantial discounts depending on the number of domains you intend to host.

Hosting Multiple domains on a single account has the potential to significantly reduce your hosting costs, but as is the case for choosing any hosting provider you should be aware of what other website services you require, and choose your hosting provider accordingly.

Don't just go for the cheapest or the one that provides the most services!

Here is a short list of the ones I have found while searching the Internet. If you do this search yourself you should also try "hosting reseller" as many sell multiple domains as a reseller service.

One and one

USA

Ipower
Blue Host Web Hosting $6.95 Per Month - USA based Professional website hosting . Incredible feature rich package including Wordpress.
Anhosting- USA based Professional website hosting for $6.95 per month. Incredible feature rich package including Wordpress.
1&1 Web Hosting

Who Needs This Type of Hosting?

Anyone who requires multiple websites with their own distinct domain name should consider this type of hosting account. If you only intend to host a single domain/website then you shouldn't discard the idea as in many cases they are no more expensive than single domain hosting solutions.

This type of solution is often used by affiliate marketers who create a website for each product/service that they promote.

How it Works

If you are to implement it then you need to understand how it works. A website is basically a collection of files stored in a folder ( website layout). This website to folder relationship is the key to understanding how multiple domain hosting works.

Subdomains as an Alternative

Rather than get another domain name it is possible instead to use a subdomain of the the existing domain name in which case you don't even need to purchase a separate domain name.

However this will only work if the websites are related. Take a look a subdomains to see how they work and when they are used.

Related articles and Resources:

Need Help With Your Website

2008-01-30T00:06:00.007-08:00

Need Help With Your Website

Top of Form

Ask The Webmaster ! Are you struggling with certain aspects? Do you need a little help? Do you have a website and aren't getting any visitors? Want to know if your web pages are optimised ok? Want to know if you've been Indexed? Want to know which hosting package you need? I am always happy to hear from and help people who visit my website. Therefore, if you have a question why not simply ask. I cannot promise to answer your question but I will always do my best to help. Over the years I have provided many readers with free help/advise and will continue to do so. I would however ask those who receive it, and are happy with it, to consider: Buying Steve a drink Linking to the site. Here is the html code- <a href="http://www.build-your-website.co.uk/">How to make a website</a> Doing someone else a favour. Best of luck ! Steve
Name:
Email address:
Question:
To Prevent Spam you are required to enter a validation code to confirm that you are a real person and not a machine. The code is 1234 Just enter this code in the box below before you send
Enter Code:

Bottom of Form

PS Don't forget to see the FAQs

Non Geographic Top level Domain Names

2008-01-30T00:06:00.005-08:00

Non –Geographic Top level Domain Names

Non –Geographic Top level Domain Names and uses
.com	– This is the most popular TLD. It is used mainly for US commercial organizations. It is the most popular domain name extension on the Internet. Anyone can have a .com, but it is more difficult to think up a unique name that hasn't already been registered. Because of this many domain name registrars offer alternative names when checking and registering a domain name.
.net	– This is the second most popular TLD. It generally describes the entity owning the domain name as a network and is used mainly by organizations that provide network connection services.
.org	In general, non-profit organizations tend to use this extension.
.gov	Generally used for government agencies. Restricted
.int	Intended to be used for sites relating to International Treaties or containing international databases. For this reason, it is not widely used. Restricted
.mil	Mainly used by military organizations of the US government. Restricted
.name	This is a new TLD extension and is intended to allow individuals to register their names (i.e. first name. Last name .name) as a personal domain name on the Internet.
.biz	– This is a new TLD extension for businesses; .biz is intended to be an alternative to the .com.
.info	– This is also new TLD, and is freely available to anyone with a business, government or non-commercial site.
.aero	– This is a new restricted TLD for service companies dealing with air travel.
.pro	– This is a new restricted TLD for professions such as law, medicine, and accounting.
.coop	- This is a new restricted TLD for cooperative organisations
.museum	This is a new restricted TLD for museums, archival institutions and exhibitions.

Some of the new TLDs (.biz, .info, .name, and .pro, .aero, .coop, and .museum) may not be currently live but you can sometimes pre-register to reserve your domain name. The following lists the most popular TLDs which are all live.

.com
.net
.org
.name
.biz
.info

Optimizing Images

2008-01-30T00:06:00.003-08:00

Optimizing Images

Almost all web pages incorporate images even if it is just the logo image.

We continue this Web Page Optimization series by looking at optimizing the page Image tag.

Why Optimize Page Images?

Search engines have in recent years added new and specialised search functionality, and now not only can you search for particular words but also for images, sounds and video.

For Examples we can search for images on Yahoo or Google here we look for images of saving private ryan.

This is what yahoo returns:

So how does yahoo Index these images? Well the only things it can index are the image name and the image alt attribute. Therefore for maximum effect you should make both the name and alt tags meaningful.

To illustrate I will show you the image declaration for the image above. The image name I have highlighted in yellow and the alt attribute contents in grey.

You should notice that they are almost identical and that they relate to the content of this page. In the example for the Yahoo search then I would have called the image- Private Ryan.... and the alt attribute would have been similar.

What is the alt attribute: The alt attribute is meant for browsers that don't display images or have disabled them. The visitor then sees the text within the alt tag. It has not been normal practise to use these attributes but using the alt attribute is a requirement of XHTML.

Related articles and resources:

Web Page Optimization- Introduction
Part 1 Optimizing title and heading tags
Part 2- optimizing the meta description and keyword tags.
Part 3- Optimizing Headlines and body content (the main page text)

Personal Domain Names

2008-01-30T00:06:00.001-08:00

Personal Domain Names

Businesses have slowly caught on to the importance of having a domain name, but individuals have not.

It hasn't happened yet but I'm pretty sure that it's only just a matter of time before every one has their own personal domain name.

I remember many years ago when personal car number plates were allowed thinking who would want one?

The answer millions of people. Not only that but they have also become collectors items.

Personal names aren't necessary real names; they could also be cartoon characters, book characters, stage names, book names. Just type in www.mickeymouse.com and see where you end up.

Why Personal Domain Names

For people doing business on the internet it is a form of branding. Many of the Internet gurus have their own domain name. For others using it purely for personal reasons.

However regardless of the reason your own domain name is very useful as once you have it you can use it for:

A website/homepage
Email

and it

belongs to you.
It is easy to remember
You can keep it the rest of your life.
You can sell it
You can pass it on

Domain names could, in the future, be the primary way people contact each other. Imagine in years to come typing a domain name into a cell phone. It isn't here yet but it is a logical step as we move to IP enabled phones (VOIP).

One of the trends mentioned in the future trends site is that everyone will have their own homepage, and if that's the case, they will need a domain name.

Choosing a Domain Name

The .Name TLD (top level domain name) was introduced specifically to cater for personal names. However, for various reasons it doesn't appear to have become popular and the .com TLD continues to be the preferred choice for many.

Individual Names and Family Names

It's possible to register a domain name for use by all the family. This is normally done by using the family surname as the domain name. For example if the family name is smith then the domain name would be

smith.com

The problem with this is that there are lots of smiths and so its unlikely that the name is still free. Rather than using numbers to pad the name to make it unique as one often sees with Yahoo and Hotmail accounts you could try

Combining husband and wife surnames either directly or hyphenated like

smithjones.com of smith-jones.com or reversed.

If that doesn't work try using the .name TLD e.g.

smith-jones.name

If that doesn't work you could try taking parts of each name and combining them. Like

smjones.com or josmith.com

again you could try user hyphens and the .name extension

If that doesn't work either you could try adding or prefixing:

Middle names, Country, town of birth

If none of that works then adding numbers is the only way left. But don't forget you don't need to just append/pre-pend them you can use them. You can also use them to break up the name as well. Like

Smith-4-jones.com

You could even try

smithandjones.com, smithforjones, smithwithjones etc

You just need to get creative.

Once you have chosen the family name you can then subdivide it for each member of the family.

Personal Websites -How to build Them

2008-01-30T00:05:00.001-08:00

Personal Websites -How to build Them

Personal websites come in all sorts of flavours from simple websites with someone's CV, hobbies, likes and dislikes to special event websites like birthdays, graduation and wedding websites.

Personal websites are different to business websites in two important ways.... Firstly, they aren't usually monetized, and secondly they aren't normally optimized for the search engines.

Personal websites that are used for providing information about a persons likes and interests, events like weddings, births etc have, in the last few years, been replaced by Blogs.

If you are Interested in building a personal website to discuss your favourite football team, a wedding, birth etc then I would recommend that you consider using a blog (Weblogs).

Because they are non-commercial sites. Personal websites can be made very cheaply and even for free . The only major consideration being whether or not you register your own domain name.

Remember domain names aren't just for businesses they can also be used for individuals. Personal domain names are becoming more common and one day we may all have one.

Personal Information

Although you may be placing personal information on the site you should be careful when sharing details like birthdays, mother name, pets names etc.

Your personal Information can be used for identity theft and you would be surprised at how little is required, and what constitutes personal identifiable information.

Getting Started

In order to build a site you need some basic equipment, software and knowledge. Just what is required is covered in starting a website.

Note: If you are completely new to building websites then make sure you take a look at the free make your own website course

Related Articles and resources:

Ready Made Turnkey Website Problems

2008-01-30T00:01:00.015-08:00

Ready Made Turnkey Website Problems

There are several problems that arise with all types of ready made Turnkey websites. They are:

Site is same as thousands of others
Need to do something that it doesn't do
Getting traffic to the website.

Most ready made/turnkey websites offer some degree of customisation and so you can make your site look different by selecting colour schemes, logos etc. This is particularly important if you are using the turnkey website as part of your offline business (doctor, dentist etc).

If you want it to do something it wasn't designed to do then you either have to get someone to change it or do it yourself. Therefore it is particularly important when choosing your turnkey website to consider not only what you want from your website today but in the years to come.

For example you may only want the website to provide basic info like company location and contact details, price list and services at the start. You may then consider using the website to handle customer queries and even to do online bookings and take orders etc.

Therefore before choosing your solution make a list of present and future requirements and choose the one that most satisfied it from day 1. You should also give preference to a turnkey website provider that demonstrate an ongoing commitment to adding new features.

Generally the more specialised the provider the better the chances that they will add new features and develop the product. A general purpose turnkey provider is unlikely to offer this kind of service.

Getting traffic to the website is a problem regardless of what type of turnkey website you have. However with a site that is primarily created to augment the existing offline business then you should:

Include your site address in all stationary.
Include your site address on your business cards.
Include your site address in business email signatures.
Include your site address on advertisements in newspapers etc.
Include your site address on all vehicle/building logos

In effect anywhere you previously had your telephone number should now also contain your website address.

For attracting new business via the Internet then you should see the website promotion section.

All of the above problems affect all types of ready made turnkey websites. A more fundamental problem affects those who are trying to make money with them. So what's wrong with ready made turnkey websites and how to Make Turnkey websites Work .

Related articles and resources:

Ready Made Turnkey Websites

2008-01-30T00:01:00.013-08:00

Ready Made Turnkey Websites

Ready made/Turnkey websites are being offered for sale on the web that require zero knowledge of web technology- a website Nirvana?

With a ready made turnkey website you not only get the website layout, but you can also get the content and even the affiliate programs, Google Adsense, and paypal all plugged in!

All you need to do is collect the cash at the end ! -- True or False ?

Someone once said if it appears to good to be true then.......

Turnkey Websites - Pros and Cons

So what are ready made websites? Are they just get rich quick scheme in disguise? Sadly often -Yes!

Do they have good points?- They certainly do and when used appropriately can be very useful.

I divide them up into three distinct types:-

Get rich quick schemes
Affiliate program extensions
Speciality sites.

They also have two distinct forms:- paid and free.

Get Rich Quick Ready Made Websites.

These are always in the form of paid websites.

So you pay for a turnkey website from Company X - it costs say $300 per year and it promotes products from company X. You don't know what you are doing you fail !- Who wins? ---Company X

OK same scenario but it's a success who wins?-- both of you. It costs company X nothing in either case and they make money in either case. They have really no incentive to help you succeed as they make money anyway.

These type of sites are to be avoided!!!

Affiliate Program Extensions

With affiliate programs you promote some else's product from your website. Some companies in an effort to help their affiliates even more provide the affiliates with a website of their own.

It is often used where the seller has a product that, although it may be in demand, has high competition and looks for ways of making it easy for people to sell the product.

The way it works is simple:

You get a free turnkey website from Company X - it costs nothing and it promotes products from company X. You don't know what you are doing you fail !- Who wins? ---No one

OK same scenario but it's a success who wins?-- both of you. It costs Neither you nor company X in either case and both only make money if you succeed. They now have a real incentive to help you succeed or they make no money!

If you are going to use the website to make money, then this is the group I would recommend you start with.

Speciality Turnkey Websites

This type comes in both free and paid forms and offers a high degree of customisation. Unlike the other two types previously discussed, you provide most of the content.

Speciality website are offered in areas like weddings, dentists, real-estate etc.

The problem with this type of site is that they are often very similar to the get rich quick sites. The way I differentiate them is:

If they emphasise how easy it is to make lots of money then they are offering the get rich quick type. If they emphasise the site features and how it compares to other websites in that niche then it is probably a genuine offer.

Take for example real-estate sites.

Now everyone knows it is possible to make money in real-estate. If you are a broker and want a website as a sales aid you could either do it yourself, get one made, or get a turnkey site.

In this case the ready made/turnkey website would provide you with the main outline and you would supply all the content. You would not have it primarily to make money but for better customer support/contact.

Many professions lend themselves to this type of website like doctors, dentists etc because they all have very similar needs.

However we need to look at the problems that arise with ready made Turnkey websites.

Related articles and resources:

Search Engines

2008-01-30T00:01:00.011-08:00

Search Engines

Search Engines are what make the web usable. They are the first tool people use for finding information on the Internet.

If you have a website then you need, not only to be listed in search engines, but also to have a top 30 search engine ranking.

There are 1000s of different search engines you can use and be listed in, but there are three that you must be listed in... Google, Yahoo and MSN .

Together these three search engines are directly used for 80% of all web searches. Indirectly they are probable responsible for 90-95% of all web searches.

Getting Indexed

All three major search engines have a addurl page where you can submit your website to the search engine for free. There is absolutely no need to ever pay for a search engine listing!

Once you have added you website to the search engine you then need to wait for the search engine to visit you website and index it, and then wait again for the website to show up on Internet searches.

The delay varies with the search engine but 2 weeks to 2 months are typical for a brand new website

However you can get yourself listed in a matter of days if you get your site added to a few directories, popular websites or blog. Search engines will find your site via the link in the directory/blog/site.

Many search engines use links to your website/ web page as a vote for that site/page. The more links pointing to the page (incoming links) the more important the search engines think it is.

Getting A Good Search Engine Ranking

Getting in the index is the first step. However there is no point even being in the search engine index if no one ever finds you when they do a search - your site needs to have a good
search engine ranking.

There are many search engine experts that will help you improve your website search engine ranking, but you can also learn how to do it yourself.

SEO

Search engine optimisation is about getting your web pages optimized for the search engines so they get found. In starting with search engines I take you through the basics.

Related resources and articles:

Site Build it Review

2008-01-30T00:01:00.009-08:00

Site Build-it Review

Before committing to any hosting package/website building package it is important to review and compare several products.

Here we will review Site build-it and explain the various features that make site build-it unique.

Site Build-it (SBI) is a complete web site building package. It includes many tools which you would normally buy individually, and which automate so much of your manual repetitive work.

It also includes features that aren't found anywhere else, at any price.

Everything you need to make your own website is included- including the knowledge. The site build-it courses themselves are recognized by everyone as the best material available at any price on the Internet and they are free, even if you don't buy the site build-it package.

The philosophy throughout the entire Sitesell product range is to over deliver. It is also the philosophy they encourage for your own site.

So let's review the features available in the site build-it web site package.

Brainstorming tool - Essential for making a website that has a change of succeeding. Using this tool you will research for possible website niches or themes and then do detailed research on all the profitable keywords for your chosen niche.
Domain Registration- Included in the price and handled automatically
Hosting- You website is hosted and maintained on Sitesell servers.
Web Page optimization- each web page you create is automatically optimized for the search engines before you build it. If it isn't quite right the GURU tells you and gives you advice on how to correct it. This is the next best thing to having your web pages written by a professional web page copy writer.
Graphic Tools- No need to learn how to create logos etc its all included.
Web page submission - All your web pages are automatically submitted to the major search engines and re-submitted when necessary.
Page rank reporting- comprehensive reporting on how your web pages are doing at all the major search engines
web page analysis- If your web pages are ranking well you can analysis and change to get better results.
Traffic Stats - Comprehensive reporting on visitors, page views, click through rates etc.
Link exchange program- automatically matches your web site theme with similar sites and allows you to contact the web master for link exchange.
Password protection on web pages- If you wan to create a members only area.
PPC research- If you want to use PPC search engines you can do keyword research on the major PPC engines.
Ezine Hosting- Handles Ezine subscription and distribution.
Supports pages generated using FrontPage , Dreamweaver etc- Although you don't need to use any of these web design packages for experienced web masters who do, they can still upload their web pages.
There are no limits on the number of Web pages, nor on bandwidth. No need to worry about renewing domain names -- SBI! does it automatically.
Customer Support SBI! includes 7-days-a-week, personal one-on-one customer support and excellent forum.
Web 2.0 content- Get your visitors to create your content for you.

The site build-it package is unique on the Internet. There is no other package that comes close. For example sites that have been built using site built-it then see the site build-it case studies.

Best of all ! Everything is managed through your Web browser! All you need to do is to cut and paste between windows. If you're not sure your ready for site-build-it then take a look at getting prepared for site build-it which includes a little test.

Do you have a question about site-build-it? Will it work for you? Why not ask them either through the contact form or on the phone.

Why Not try Site Build-it for Free!

Small Business Website Domain Names

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Small Business Website Domain Names

All businesses require their own domain name.

Domain names are, in effect, like business names, and often they are they same; as in Microsoft corporation ( business name) and microsoft.com ( domain name).

Domain names like business names are decided on by the person/company registering the name. The only criteria is that the domain name cannot already have been registered.

However unlike business names, domain names have a structure as you can see with the example microsoft.com. Here you can see that full stops (dots) are used to separate the different name segments microsoft and com.

It isn't really necessary to go into the technical detail on the exact structure in order for you grasp the basics of what a domain name is. If you want to you can find more detail in domain names uncovered.

Domain Name Selection

Most people automatically think that they should have a domain name ending in .com and usually use businessname.com as the domain name. For Example if your business name is J smith and sons then your domain name would be:

Jsmithandsons.com

There is nothing wrong with this, and it is indeed a good choice. However it is not the only possibility. It is the number 1 choice for anyone with a North American based business or an International business.

However; if your business is local in nature and is located outside the USA/Canada then a geographic name like businessname.co.uk (UK ) is more appropriate.

Avoiding Domain Name Scams

Domain names are cheap costing less than $20. I have heard of small businesses paying $100 for a domain name by "so called" domain name registration companies.

Beware of any company that tries to sell you a domain name over the telephone or through the mail and charges more than $20.

Register Your Own Domain Name

There are many domain registration companies available and you should always register your own name. If it is registered on your behalf by your website designer then you should always insist that it is registered to you/ your company. The process is simple and is explained in more detail here.

Here are the registration details showing myself as the owner for one of my domain names.

Further down the form you will see 1and1 Internet ltd listed as technical support. This is the company I used to register the domain name. This is perfectly normal and what you require.

Domain Names Need Renewing

When you buy a domain name you are actually leasing it as you will need to renew the name periodically usually yearly. If you forget you lose it!!!. Therefore I recommend you choose a domain registrar that does automatic renewals on your behalf.

Domain Names and Email Addresses

You can use your domain name as an email address and most domain name registration companies provide the ability to create and manage email addresses as part of the domain name registration package.

Unfortunately many small business owners seem to miss the fact and many still advertise a yahoo, Gmail or hotmail account as their business contact when they could be using their own company domain name.

See email and websites for more details.

Domain Names and Websites

A domain name is not a website. To have website you need to have a website host . You can consider the website host to be equivalent to the company premises and just as you can change company premises and keep the same company name you can change website hosts and keep the same domain name.

However I always recommend that you use the same company for both the domain name and web site hosting. So don't buy the domain name until you have decided on a suitable hosting provider.

See Website Hosting Guide. for more details.

Starting a Business Website

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Starting a Business Website

Starting a website for your business doesn't require that you to spend huge sums of money but it does require that you spend some time researching and planning your site.

The first thing you need to decide is.. Why do you want a website?
It isn't sufficient to think that just because everyone else has one you need one as well!

When you answer the why you also will probably answer, in part.. What will the site do for your business. An example would be. My business wants a website to:

Attract new clients
Inform new and existing clients on my products, services and costs.
Allow new clients to contact my business.
Provide support for my products and services to reduce the amount of telephone call enquiries we receive.

It is important to have a general idea of what you will eventually do with the site as it can have a big impact on what type of host/design you choose.

Website Research

Your website should be based around a predominant theme. Your business does something specific and that is your obvious theme. However you may need to emphasis that theme differently to establish a successful web presence.

To do that you will need to to some basic research to find the search terms that could/are being used to search for the services/products your business offers.

You can find out how in Website Research For Small Business Websites

Your Approach

As mentioned earlier there are two main approaches to website building.

Complete Do it yourself/self build approach
Partial self build approach

In reality a complete self build is rare except for small brochure type sites. Most business website owners adopt the do what you can and outsource what you can't approach.

For Example you may not feel capable of setting up a PPC (pay Per Click) campaign but you are happy to write web pages. So you write your own web pages and outsource the PPC campaign.

You should be aware that outsourcing doesn't necessary just mean getting someone to do some work for you. It can, and often does, mean buying a package that does the work.

However -------------------------------------

You may just feel that your time is better spent in your business and that you just want someone to do it all for you. If that applies to you then you should at least be aware of what is involved.

In using Websites for business owners I look at the website building process from an outsourcing perspective.

-------------------------------------

The next step is to decide the approach you will take when building the site. See Small Business Website Design Considerations

Related Articles and Resources:

Small Business Website Domain Names

Starting a Website

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Starting a Website

Starting a website, whether it's a personal or business website, doesn't require that you to spend huge sums of money.

You don't need to start by purchasing expensive web design software packages or web server space.

Tools and skills for Starting your own Website:

Access to a personal computer.
Access to the internet. -See Internet Access methods for more details
Basic computer skills – Ability to create simple documents like letters using a word processor (Microsoft Word etc).
A Web page or HTML editor.
Basic knowledge of HTML
Basic knowledge of website terms

Recommended Approach

There are many aspects to building a website and it is easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the technology and the offers which you probably don't really understand anyway.

Start slowly and don't expect to be an expert after a week. Don't buy all the ebooks or books and spend the next 6 months reading. Begin by starting with the basics and build step by step.

There is no need to start learning the details of website promotion until you have a website to promote! There is no need to start learning about PHP or JavaScript unless you are going to write them!

Only learn what you need to learn to progress on to the next step. After 3 months you will be amazed at what you have learned.

Many websites recommend that you purchase a domain name, and web space very quickly. Most people who do this then go on to abandon their project as they struggle to get to grips with HTML, Web page editing etc.

My recommended approach is for you to build the necessary technical knowledge and skills as you need them and only purchase what you need when you are ready to proceed.

Before you actually start you need a basic understanding of the common terms so you are able to distinguish a website from a web server. This is covered in Website Basics .

Once you are happy with that you can start creating web pages and linking them together etc by following the make your own website course (available to newsletter subscribers). The course is intended to cover the technical aspects involved with building a basic website.

How Much Technical Knowledge do You Need?

It's very easy to go overboard learning the latest web technologies, just as easy as it is to be totally put off by them.

The reality is that you need very little technical knowledge and certainly no more than the average person can grasp.

Did I write this page in HTML? No of course not! Could I? Probably but it would take me days and not minutes.

As an analogy you don't need to be an electrician to learn how to wire a plug or a seamstress to sow on a button. That is the the technical level you need to be able to use HTML and other web technologies.

Persistence

Starting a website isn't difficult, but it does require time, effort and above all perseverance. You can't make your website in day, not even a week. You will definitely take many months.

Related Articles and Resources:

Starting Guides

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Starting Guides

Building a website involves learning many new skills and techniques. It is difficult to know how much you need to know before you can proceed. Many people invest too much time learning things that they don't need to know or or don't need to know in such great detail.

In order to help overcome the confusion I have created a series of starting guides that contain just enough information to get you started in in most cases all that you really need to make your own website.

If you want to become an HTML expert then by all means do. However if you want to learn just enough HTML to make your own website then that is what my starting HTML guide is all about.

Paid Guides

The Cappuccino Guides are introductory guides for beginners but can also serve as concise summary guides costing the same as a cappuccino. They are an ideal way of getting started.

Free Guides

Blogging

Starting with Search Engines

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Starting with Search Engines

Search engines are what makes the web useable.

When you want to find information about something you go to your favourite search engine and type in a few words (keywords) and you get a list of Web sites to choose from.

You read the short description of the Web sites on the list, and click, off you go to look at that Website. If the search engine has done its job correctly you find what you are looking for.

If not you go back try a few other sites on the list or do another search using different keywords.

Notice something very important - People don't search for a particular website
- They search for a product or information to solve their current problem

When making you own Website you need to bear this process in mind. You make your website to solve a particular problem,and you make it so the search engines recognise that it solves that problem.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

A whole industry has grown up around search engines. A quick search on Google for SEO gives over 15 million results. These companies all offer to get your Website to rank high in the search engines (see website and search engine ranking) .
They will optimise your site for this engine and then for that engine, these keywords etc etc etc…

Its not surprising that anyone making their first Website feels a little overwhelmed when it comes to submitting their website to the scrutiny of the search engines.

After reading some of the Search engine articles which talk about offsite and onsite optimisation, keyword stuffing, doorway pages, white hat and black hat. You either give up completely or just hand over the money to the experts.

SEO Basics

The basics of optimising your site for search engines (SEO) is relatively straightforward as search engines use only three criteria to rank you website/ web page:

Your page/ site content -
The links to and from your site
Your Competitors

Because you have no control over your competitors sites you have only two ways of influencing your rankings, and they are:

Your Content
Website Links

Your Website Content

You have complete control over you website content and so it is the first step in website optimisation process. So lets find out how your website content affects your search engine rankings and how to choose content for a good search engine ranking.

Website Links

The links to and from your website have a great influence on the ranking of your site/pages. The general rule of thumb is that the more competitive your chosen niche then the more links (quality links) you will need to achieve a good ranking.

Google, in particular places a great emphasis on links, and it is almost impossible to rank in Google without inbound links. Links and link types are covered in Website Links .

Related Articles and resources:

Improve your Search Engine Ranking with Web Page Optimization

SubDomains What are they and why Use them?

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SubDomains- What are they and why Use them?

Subdomains allow you to divide your domain name/website into sections or separate areas.

As an analogy if you go to any medium to large company office you will see it divided into various departments like accounts, sales, product development. People who work in these various departments are all located near to each other maybe on the same floor or office section.

You can do the same with your website. If you have a medium/large company you may want to have a separate website for the sales, and another for the Marketing side. Rather then having totally separate websites you can section or divide your main website just as you would a normal office.

There are two main methods used:

Use separate folders
Use Sub domains

Using Separate Folders to Sub Divide a Web Site

This is the most common method and is easy to implement on almost all websites. Here the main domain name is abc.com. to access the website you type in http://www.abc.com or http://abc.com (not always possible). When you do that you get the index.htm file showed circled in yellow (below) for that website.

You can now create folders underneath the main site (here sales and MTG) and each folder will contain files relevant to that department. You can tell you sales customers to access the this folder by giving them the URL of the folder: http://www.abc.com/sales or http://www.abc.com/mtg.

Here when the visitor types
http://www.abc.com/sales
into his browser he gets the home page for that folder - the index.htm file circled in red below.

Note: It is normal and desirable, but not compulsory, to create a home page for each folder such that when someone enters the site using the folder name and not a web page they get the default web page of that folder (folder home page).

Using Sub Domains

In the above examples you can see how easy it was to section the website. The only problem with this form of sectioning is that the URL that you need to give your customers is not what most web users are used to seeing.

To get a more easy to remember URL you need to create subdomains. In our case our domain name is abc.com and a subdomain would look like this: subdomainname.abc.com e.g. sales.abc.com or mtg.abc.com.

Now all we need to do is to associate the sub domain names with their bit of web space. To do this you again create folders but this time you associate each folder with its own domain name as show below:

Now when the visitor types http://sales.abc.com he gets the index.htm file shown circled in red. It is also possible to use the full address http://www.sales.abc.com and get the same file.

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Top Level Domain Names

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Top Level Domain Names

The top level domains (TLDs) are divided into two groups –non geographic (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org) and Geographic using a country code (.uk, .de, .ca).

The non-geographic TLDS (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org) were the original seven names assigned before the Internet become popular. Domain name extensions in three of these (.com, .net, and .org) could be registered without restriction; the other four have limited purposes and were/are restricted.

The result is that the three domain name extension .com, .net, .org are now the most commonly used on the Internet.

Originally the Internet was a totally USA affair and hence there was no need for any geographic names. This all changed in the 1990s as the Internet spread to The rest of the world and the Geographic TLD extensions were introduced based on existing International country code standards e.g. .uk for United Kingdom and .de for Germany (Deutschland) etc.

Because of increased demand for names, especially non geographic, seven new non geographic TLDS were decided on and introduced in 2001 and 2002. They are (.biz, .info, .name, and .pro, .aero, .coop, and .museum). Here is a list of non-geographic TLDS along with their intended use.

Deciding on the TLD extension to use is the first stage in choosing a domain name

Related Articles and Resources:

Web Design Articles

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Web Design Articles

Adding Images/Pictures to Your Website-Adding Images/Pictures to Your Website and creating thumbnails and rollover effects

15 Questions You Should Ask your Prospective Web Designer- Thinking of hiring a web designer? Then get your questions ready.

Image Maps what are they and how to create one.

Using IFrames-An Iframe is a very useful HTML element for placing content from different sources on a web page.

IFrames Explained - Here we look at the Iframe HTML tag in more detail and explore how to control the frame contents and appearance.

The Home Page - The Home Page is the most important page on your website ! What should it contain?

Starting HTML
- A 5 part course for beginners wanting to learn HTML and who have no previous experience. Starting with the very basics and building..

Starting With cascading style sheets is a 5 part beginners guide for those wanting to learn the fundamentals of css and how to use them:

HTML to XHTML in 10 Steps - If you are familiar with HTML then there are a few syntax rules that you should observe to create XHTML web pages.

Choosing your Site Style or Theme.- It's easy for beginners to spend many days and weeks trying to choose a suitable style for their website and then a few weeks latter change it.

Configure Web Page Editors for XHTML and CSS - Most modern web page/web site editors have support for both XHTML and CSS however you may need to change the default configuration.

Making a Website using free Website Templates- Free Website layout using free Templates. Where can you find free Website templates ? and how to modify and use them for your own website?

How to Make a Website Using Templates Video Tutorial Series-How to use a free or commercial website template to make a website.

Make a web page- Series of tutorials on how to make a web page. Covers fonts, links, tables and images.

Make a Web page Exercise 1 -Web page with headers, bold text and paragraphs.
Make a Web page Exercise 2 Web page including tables
Make a Web page Exercise 3 Web page with bookmarks and links.

Quick Web Page Checks
- Most people upload there web pages open up a browser and see if it displays. This just checks that it has been uploaded. I do a few more quick checks just to check that it is ok.

Validating Web Pages- Are your web pages valid? How do you check and what should you do?

HTML/XHTML Comments- How do you insert HTML/XHTML Comments and why use comments anyway?

Website Fonts - Which ones to use and why and how to declare them

Website Fonts: Specifying the Font Size: How to Specify the Font Size using the old font tag and or CSS and common font problems.

Using TopStyle Lite (CSS Editor)-How to Use TopStyle Lite (CSS Editor) to create style sheets

FrontPage and Embedded Style Sheets-Here we will look at using FrontPage to create Embedded Style sheets

FrontPage External Style Sheets-Here we will look at using FrontPage to create and link External Style sheets

Website Forms- Website Forms are used to gather information from your visitors. How are forms supported and created?

Website Form Basics Part1- Here we look at the HTML for basic Website Forms and how forms are constructed.

Website Form Basics Part2 -Website forms require some form of program to process them. These programs or scripts need not be on your server..

Web Page Backgrounds - How to change Web Page Backgrounds and what to be aware of when using background images.

Web Page and HTML Editors -For beginners starting a website or starting HTML, choosing a suitable editor can be very confusing, as there is a lot to choose from.

Web Page Links-What are hyperlinks? What type of page links are there and how to create web page links.

Advanced Web Page Linking-Have you ever wondered how hyperlinks change colour when you place the mouse over them. In Advanced Web Page Linking we look at special techniques when creating links.

Managing Directory Submissions -How to prepare to add your site to directories and manage the submissions.

How to Password Protect Web Pages/Website- Do you need to protect parts of your website? Here we look the methods used to Password Protect Web Pages.

The basics of a Website -A tutorial covering the basics of-What is a Website, Web page, home page?

Website layout - How are websites structured? Learn the basic website layout.

Web Page Layout Using Tables
- A tutorial showing you the basics of web page layout using tables.

Tables and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) -Cascading style sheets (CSS) can be used to control tables. Controlling tables with CSS makes them far more flexible.

Web Page Layout Using Tables and CSS: Part1 - Tables are easier to use for web page layout than CSS. However using tables for layout doesn't mean that you can't use style sheets as well!

Web Page Layout Using Tables and CSS :Part 2 - Tables are easier to use for web page layout than CSS. However using tables for layout doesn't mean that you can't use style sheets as well! Part 2

Web Page Layout Using Tables-Part 2- Web page layout can have an impact on how the search engines view the page content. Here we look at cell positioning for search engines.

How Search Engines See Your Web Pages -How Search Engines See Your Web Pages is not necessary the way you do! So how do you adjust your page for the search engines?

Your Website Theme -Before you can make your website you need to decide on your Website Theme. Here we will see how to research and choose a website theme.

Web Page Editors- Choosing a suitable web page or XHTML/HTML editor can be difficult especially for a beginner. Here we look at the differences, examine the difference between a page editor and a website editor and which is more suitable

XHTML Explained-What is XHTML? Should you be using it ? How different is it from HTML?

HTML to XHTML in 10 Steps - If you are familiar with HTML then there are a few syntax rules that you should observe to create XHTML web pages.

Configure Web Page Editors for XHTML and CSS - Most modern web page/web site editors have support for both XHTML and CSS however you may need to change the default configuration.

Web Page and XHTML/HTML Editors

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Web Page and XHTML/HTML Editors

For beginners starting a website, or starting XHTML/HTML (see note), choosing a suitable editor can be very confusing, as there are a lot to choose from.

The first point of confusion is in understanding the difference between an XHTML/HTML editor and a Web Page Editor.

An XHTML/HTML editor lets you create a web page by inserting XHTML/HTML tags. Whereas a web page editor lets you create a web page by simply typing in the text and and selecting the formatting from a toolbar.

With a web page editor you don't normally see the XHTML/HTML tags unless you want to, whereas with the XHTML/HTML editor, you not only see them, you have to insert them yourself.

Note: HTML is gradually moving to XHTML. A far as editors are concerned they will all be upgraded to support the XHTML standard or become obsolete (See XHTML explained for more details.). In choosing an editor you should always give preference to those that support the new standard.

All of the major vendors have support for XHTML and CSS in their latest products however the level of support does vary and usually involves making preference changes.

Also note that is this seems a little too techie for you don't worry just ignore the distinction as it doesn't really matter that much in practise anyway. You can always return to it at a later date.

Using an XHTML/HTML editor

In order to use an XHTML/HTML editor you need to understand XHTML/HTML (see starting HTML). I do not recommend this option for beginners except for those who want to practice coding XHTML/HTML and checking for correct XHTML/HTML formatting.

There are many XHTML/HTML editors (mostly free) available for download on the Internet the ones I use and would recommend are:

Trellian Code Page - Excellent simply and easy to use yet powerful ideal for beginners. Doesn't support the new XHTML standard and cascading style sheets.
CSE XHTML/HTML validator Lite - Incredibly powerful XHTML/HTML Editor and XHTML/HTML validator. -Recommended download.
Note Tab Lite --Very powerful Notepad replacement I use for creating articles it also has XHTML/HTML editing and checking .

Even though it doesn't support XHTML I would recommend that Beginners start with Trellian Code Page.

Web Page Editors

The only web Page editors I recommend are WYSIWYG ( what you see is what you get) editors. These editors make creating a web page as easy as writing a letter. In order to use these editors you don't need any knowledge of XHTML/HTML.

There are two types of editors ( my distinction) Web Page Editors like Trellian webpage and Web site editors like Microsoft FrontPage and Dreamweaver.

Using A web Page Editor

These editors are inexpensive (most free), easy to use, and incorporate most of the features of programs like FrontPage, but they only let you edit a single page at a time.

Features like find and replace text over several web pages are not supported. If you rename a page you will manually have to change the links in other pages etc.

These editors are highly suitable for beginners and for simple edits of singular web pages. As your website grows ( more than 20 pages) you will probably outgrow this type of editor.

That said, this page is being prepared using one ( Trellian Webpage). Once finished I will copy and paste into FrontPage and complete the linking.

The editor I previously recommended was Trellian WebPage which like Trellian Code page is available for free. However this editor doesn't currently support XHTML and CSS and so I only use this editor for quick edits of old pages and pages that I don't publish online.

The free editor I currently recommend is NVu ( pronounced N-view). It is a complete open source Web Authoring System for Linux Desktop users as well as Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver. -Recommended download.

Web Site Editors

These programs are designed not just for making web pages but also for site management. They allow you to create site themes and to find and replace text across multiple web pages etc.

They are much more powerful than the simple web page editors but are generally also more difficult to use for beginners.

I would recommend you use a very basic WYSIWYG (What you see is what you Get) web page editor like NVu at the start and then progress to using a web site editor later as your web site expands. The editors that I have used and would recommend are:

Microsoft FrontPage --Very powerful editor and simple to use especially for anyone already familiar with other Microsoft products like Word. I currently use this one. It is easy to get going with and powerful enough for most applications. (see Starting with FrontPage)
DreamWeaver-- Undoubtedly the editor of choice for most Web designers. More powerful than FrontPage and produces much cleaner XHTML/HTML than FrontPage. -Much More expensive though and more difficult to get started with.
I would only recommend this for experienced web designers or those who are going to be producing commercial web sites.
Are you a would be Internet marketer? Then you may be interested in taking a look at what is being billed as The Internet Marketer's alternative to FrontPage and DreamWeaver. The software is called Xsitepro.

Get Your Web Editor for Free!

Many Web hosting providers offer web editing software for free so if you haven't chosen your web hosting provider then it pays to shop around a bit.

For UK visitors 1&1 uk are offering Microsoft FrontPage 2003 free with any Microsoft hosting package and NetObjects Fusion for any Linux hosting plan.

For USA visitors 1&1 Web Hosting USA are offering NetObjects Fusion for any Linux hosting or Microsoft hosting package plan.

Online Web Page Creation

Many hosts offer on line graphical creation pages where you can create your web page using a browser. For the most part they are simple to use but they usually require a particular browser version.

They come with professional templates and although it tends to be easier to create web pages ,changes, especially to multiple pages can be difficult. Generally they have page limitations, so are only suitable for small personal or hobby websites.

The major exception to this however is the site Build-it package which is a complete web site building, management and promotion package. I personally use this package for one of my websites and would recommend you consider this, if your plan is to build an online business not just a web site. For more information see the site build-it section.

Notes:

I've used Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Trellian WebPage and NVU. With all editors I have had need at one time or another to edit the actual code. This isn't difficult and just requires understanding the basics. So if you haven't quite got round to it, I would urge you to take a look at starting HTML.

Related Articles and resources:

How to Make a web page using web page editors
How to make your own web page in HTML
Starting with FrontPage

Web Page Optimization Part 1

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Web Page Optimization - Part 1

Correct Web page optimization requires that all of the various web page elements are optimized. Optimization is required for each web page that you write so as to achieve best results at the search engines.

As stated in the previous article (starting with search engines) - searchers search using keywords/ phrases and in order to be found by the search engine your web page must be optimized for those same keywords/ phrases

When optimizing web pages there are five areas to consider.

Before proceeding it is important to point out that some search engines seem to penalize for over optimization. Therefore always err on the side of caution. You can check your pages position after a few months and adjust accordingly.

Important note: I have inserted extra characters in the keywords used as examples in this article to prevent the search engines ranking this page for the example keywords.

The keywords for the Web Page

First make a list of keywords for the web page. This list will be derived from your keyword research (see resources below for keyword research articles).

I will use the list from the proceeding article (Website Content and Search Engines) repeated below.

We are going to optimize our web page for the keyword phrase "bungxxee jumpping texxas". (*see note above).

Optimizing Meta tags

Firstly, if you are not sure what meta tags are then see Meta tags explained. As far as web page optimization is concerned we are only interested in

Title Tag

This is by far the most important tag of the page and should contain your keyword/keyword phrase and as far as possible only your keyword/ keyword phrase.

Example Titles:

Notice the use of the so called stop word "in" that makes the title make sense to human readers. Search engines ignore this word except if you do a search with the keyword in quotes. i.e.

"bungxxee jumpping texxas" and not bungxxee jumpping texxas which is normal.

The important point is that the Title makes sense to human readers as they will also be reading the page. Where possible start the title with the keyword phrase (1 and 2) above.

HTML
<TITLE> Bungxxee Jumpping Texxas</TITLE>

Continued in- Web Page Optimisation - Part 2- optimizing the meta description and keyword tags.

Related articles and resources:

Web Page Optimization- Introduction
Part 2- optimizing the meta description and keyword tags.
Part 3- Optimizing Headlines and body content (the main page text)
Part 4- Optimizing Alt images and links

Web Page Optimization

2008-01-29T23:59:00.003-08:00

Web Page Optimization

Web page optimization is about making web pages so that they are more likely to be found and highly ranked by the search engines. It is the main part of the the overall website optimization (optimisation) process.

The reason why is simple.... Most web pages are found by people searching using a search engine like Google or Yahoo, and for most websites, search engines are the major source of traffic.

Do Web Pages need Optimization

Web Page Optimization is a must if you want or need to improve your website search engine ranking. However what if you are using other promotional methods and aren't really worried about a good search engine ranking?

Well in this case many would say forget the optimization. However; the reality is that all web pages need some basic optimization. By not optimizing your pages you are not only wasting potentially valuable traffic, but , what would you say if one of your clients phoned and said -

"Hi Jim I was looking for your website on the Internet to check on one of your products but couldn't find it! - You do have a website ? don't you?"

Surely you want to be found when someone types your company name into a search engine!

Local Search and Web Site/Page Optimization

Most people see the Internet as global and hence not really relevant to a small local business. That used to be the case but that situation is changing rapidly with local search.

The major search engines (2005) are all introducing a local search capability. It is only a matter of time before local search replaces the yellow pages for locating local businesses and services.

You may be plumber in "Never never land" and be of no interest to someone looking for a plumber in Texas but surely you want to be found when someone types:-plumber "never never land" into a search engine.

So surely a web page that starts:

Jones the plumber serving the needs of the local community covering never never land and surrounding areas including under milk wood etc.

is better than one that says:

Jones the plumber serving the needs of the local community since 1955.

Whether you are making you own website or employing a web designer/company you need to be aware of basic website/ web page optimization techniques and make sure that at the very least you do the basics.

Related articles and resources:

Part 1 Optimizing title and heading tags
Part 2- optimizing the meta description and keyword tags.
Part 3- Optimizing Headlines and body content (the main page text)
Part 4- Optimizing Alt images and links

Web Pages

2008-01-29T23:59:00.001-08:00

Web Pages

Web pages are the fundamental building blocks of a website. A website is simply a collection of linked web pages stored on a web server (see website layout).

There are two aspects to a web page - technical (html, meta tags) and non technical (copywriting and optimisation). You need to be aware of both aspects in order to create good web pages.

It is also important to learn this process in distinct steps. Please don't try to make a well written ,search engine optimised web page complete with logo and site navigation from day 1.

The basic steps are:

Making basic web pages

Look at the html behind the pages
Examine hidden page elements that are used for search engines
Adding the navigation and logo
Search engine optimisation
Writing good web copy

OK. First things first . Let's start by learning how to make web pages using web page editors.

Once you are able to make basic web pages then it's time to examine them in a little more detail. Firstly you need to understand HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).

It is not important to become an expert but to have a basic understanding of it's structure. Starting HTML is a 5 part tutorial series for just that purpose.

Now that you can make basic pages and are familiar with the HTML code behind a basic page you need to examine the web page structure in even more detail.

A web page consists of two components.

A visible component (what the visitor actually sees)
An invisible one (formatting, scripting components, meta tags etc)

Shown here in the schematic

When examining the web page HTML this is what we see:

<html>
<head>
..............Meta tags go here
</head>
<body>
........Visible Page Content goes
here
</body>
</html>

The Hidden Web Page Components.

These components are not visible to the web page visitors and are used to provide information for use by web browsers and search engines (meta tags).

They are also normally invisible in most web page editors (in normal mode). However most web page editors have a view source tab which reveals the actual HTML coding and the hidden meta tags, scripts and comments.

Because you need to view the HTML source code itself to see these tags, and in most editors to modify them, they are frequently overlooked. In addition, most editors will enter default information for some of the meta tags.

Editing Meta Tags

As previously mentioned the meta tags are not only hidden from the visitor they are also hidden from the designer as they are not normally displayed by most WYSIWYG web page editors.

It is however very important that you are able to Edit meta tags and understand which meta tags are common to all pages and which one are unique to each page.

There are two main uses for the meta tags they are:

Search engines-these include the title, description, keywords and robot tags and are perhaps the most important meta tags These tags should always be used and are discussed in meta tags explained .
Web page information and control- These are the Doctype tag, script include tags, author tags etc and are covered in Common meta tags.

The Visible Web Page

The visible parts of the web page consist of the actual web page content, logo and the website/page navigation. A typical web page is show below:

You can learn how to make basic web pages by following the make web pages tutorial series.

These tutorials cover the basic mechanics of making a web page. In addition you need to be able to layout your web page with site navigation and

Web pages are read not only by people but also by search engine spiders. In order to write successful web pages you need to be able to write for both.

Writing for search engines is covered in web page optimization series and writing web copy is covered in the free download make your words sell.

Now that you understand about web pages it's time to make the first and most important web page in the site- The home Page.

Web Site Hosting Guide

2008-01-29T23:58:00.013-08:00

Web Site Hosting Guide

Choosing a website host, website hosting provider or hosting package from the many thousands of companies offering website hosting packages can be extremely confusing.

The object is not to choose the cheapest, or the one with the most features, but the one you need. Most providers bundle basic web hosting with a variety of web services like email, newsletters, databases etc and combine them into packages or hosting plans.

The choice really becomes one of choosing the most appropriate package for your present and future needs. You should always prefer a provider that allows you to upgrade the package seamlessly (i.e. with no disruption)

In general, hosting providers provide several service package levels e.g.

Basic
Business
Professional
Ecommerce (i.e. a shop).

When you examine these offerings you find that the professional may support a SQL database, SSL etc and the basic one doesn't. When you are new to website building its difficult to decide what you need, as you're probably not sure as to what most of the terms mean anyway.

Generally I would say that if you don't understand it then you probably don't need it; as it is very unlikely that you will ever use it. Because of the huge array of offers it is impossible to compare them all and to make any firm recommendations.

Hosting Guidelines

Therefore what I will do is to list the basics that you require and some do's and don'ts.

In general I would always advise you to go for the basic option and upgrade if you need to later, unless you are sure you need a service offered in a more expensive package.
Always choose a provider that lets you upgrade your package.
Always choose a provider that lets you cancel your package and get a refund if your not happy. That is, look for a good guarantee.
Always use the same company to host your website and register your domain name! Therefore when comparing prices you need to take both into consideration.
Don't go for the provider just because they offer everything- you probably ( almost definitely) don't need it all anyway.
Don't worry about if its Linux or Microsoft windows.- It doesn't normally make a difference to you, even if you are using Microsoft FrontPage.
You don't necessarily need Microsoft FrontPage sever extension support even if you are using Microsoft FrontPage.
If you do need Microsoft FrontPage sever extension support then it can be provided on both Linux and Microsoft.
Always look for good software deals. Hosting providers can't really differentiate themselves anymore with web services so they bundle software. It is possible to get your web editing software (like FrontPage) completely free by choosing the right hosting provider.
You don't have to be in the same country as the hosting provider but if they are supplying free software it will probably be on CD, and it may mean that you aren't eligible- do check.
Host you site in the same country as your target market. That is if you are UK based but you want to target the American market then host the site on a server in USA or Canada.
Websites with special requirements include music\video\dvd download sites like adult websites. Because they require high bandwidth, storage and may be restricted by some providers you should see below for more details.

Website Hosting Providers

There are many hosting providers on the Internet but you may save yourself some time by taking a look at the ones below:

Blue Host Web Hosting $6.95 Per Month - USA based Professional website hosting . Incredible feature rich package including Wordpress.
Anhosting- USA based Professional website hosting for $6.95 per month. Incredible feature rich package including Wordpress.
One and one -UK
Site Build-it- This is a totally different solution as it is a complete website building, hosting, promotion package. To learn more about site build-it start with the site build-it review on this website.

Multiple Websites

If you think that you will eventually have more than one site then you should look at hosting them on a single account. This is discussed in Multiple Domain/website Hosting

Domain Names

Although not strictly speaking necessary I would recommend you use the hosting provider for the web hosting and for the domain name.

In domain names you can learn about the different domain types and how to choose a domain.

If you already have a domain name and want to use another provider you will have to arrange for the domain name to be transferred ( most hosting providers will do this) or you can use the technique of web forwarding to redirect the domain (not recommended).

Speciality Website Hosting Packages

If you require a website for some special function then you may find it better to go to a hosting provider that specialises in that area. Ready Made or Turnkey websites are often used, very common examples are wedding websites and real estate websites.

Other Hosting Solutions

Most of you will use a shared hosting provider as described above. There are however alternatives like using your ISP web space or you own web server. If you want to look at these alternatives in more detail they are discussed in
Website Hosting and Host Options.

Related Articles and Resources

Website Basics

2008-01-29T23:58:00.011-08:00

Website Basics

Before you start building your website it is a good idea to make sure you have a grasp of the basics.

I will try to explain, in as simple a way as possible, some of the common terms that you will encounter. A more comprehensive list is given in website FAQs.

What is a Website ?

This is probably the most fundamental and basic question, and it is surprising how many existing site owners don't really understand exactly what a web site actually is.

A Web site is a collection of web pages place in a folder on a web server. The website has a unique identity otherwise known as its domain name. The website maybe the only site on the web server or they may be many others on the same server.

What is a Web Server?

A web server is the physical machine, and looks very much like the machine you are currently using. An analogy may be useful in order to distinguish between a website from a web server. If we compare them to normal shops.

Shops are located in physical buildings and each shop can either have its own physical building or share a single physical building with other shops (shopping mall). In our analogy a server is equivalent to the physical building. A physical server can host multiple Websites or a single Website.

For large companies that have many visitors to their Website then the Website is located on one or more physical servers. For smaller companies that have fewer visitors, then their Website can be located on a server which also hosts Websites for other companies .i.e. the server is shared.

This is the most common form of website hosting
and undoubtedly the one you will be using.

What is a Domain Name

You domain name is effectively your address. If you compare it to where you live your house is equivalent to your web site and your house address is equivalent to your domain name.

However unlike in the physical world this isn't a permanent relationship between the two, as it's possible to link your domain name to a new web site.

For more details see domain names .

What is a Web page?

A Web page is like a page in a book or newspaper and is created using the same tools as you would create a book or newspaper i.e. by using a word processor or similar tool.

So what is the difference between the page you are currently reading and a Web Page – The answer is in the Formatting and structure. Web pages are formatted and structured using a special Language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language).

HTML (XHTML) formatted pages are meant to be read by a special program called a Web Browser e.g. Internet Explorer. An HTML page is a text page containing special tags which tell the Web browser how to format and display the text. We will examine HTML in more detail a little later.

You can create HTML pages with any text editor like notepad but doing so require detailed knowledge of HTML itself. Most Website developers use special Web editing tools like Microsoft FrontPage which require no or very little real knowledge of HTML.

Web pages are in fact the building blocks of a web site, and the first thing you need to do is to make web pages and understand how they are structured and linked together .

See starting HTML/XHTML and how to make your own web page for more details.

What is a Home Page?

The home page is the first web page you go to on a Website. Its purpose is to make it easy for visitors to find the information they want from your site; it is in effect a kind of guide.

You can think of it as being the equivalent of a receptionist in a large office. He/she has the first contact with visitors and assists them to locate whoever they have come to visit. A bad receptionist can have a negative impact on new visitors- likewise for a bad Homepage.

What is a Hyperlink?

A Web page can contain references to other Web pages in the same way a book can contain references to other books or articles. If you are reading a book and see a reference to another book or article you must go to the library and get the book or article in order to read it.

On the Web this is much easier as the references on a Web page are actually links to the article and when clicked the Web browser displays the article. These links or references are called hyperlinks and are normally shown underlined in Web browsers.

When you move the cursor over these links the cursor icon changes (to a hand on Internet explorer) and you see the location of the destination page displayed in the lower left bar of the browser.

Links that are unvisited are normally shown in blue and go black when they have been visited (viewed). Figure 5 shows how the browser displays hyperlinks all of the links in this example are unvisited.

See website links for more details

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Website Content Management Overview

2008-01-29T23:58:00.009-08:00

Website Content Management Overview

Website Content Management Systems (CMS) allow you to easily manage and edit website content and website appearance. They do this by separating the actual content from the content layout/structure.

This means that it becomes very easy to make changes to the appearance of each web page like colour scheme, navigation etc without having to physically edit each page.

They are specifically designed so that a very low level of technical knowledge is required. Meaning you don't need to be a web designer to use them.

What Does A Content Management System do?

The main features provided by content management systems are:

Non-technical authoring
Metadata creation
Multi-user authoring
Easy Publishing
Page templates
Effective navigation
Valid HTML
Cross Browser Support

There are two common types of content management systems

Desktop based
Web Server based

Desktop Based Content Management

Almost all modern website editing tools like Microsoft FrontPage have built in content management abilities even though they don't call it that. With FrontPage you can find and replace across the entire site.

You can add repetitive content using webbots, and you can totally separate the design from the content using style sheets. It is however much more difficult to use than a pure content management system and requires more technical knowledge.

There are purpose built desktop content management systems which although not as flexible are much easier to use. These are not web page editors in the sense of FrontPage, Trellian WebPage, NVU etc but are pure content management systems that allow you to create the website content using a variety of templates without requiring any knowledge of HTML etc.

This content is stored in a database located on your PC and can then be published to your website. You cannot use them to edit a web page.

Server Based Content Management Systems

Server Based Content Management systems provide the same easy content production features as desktop based and more besides. All editing is done on the web. The content is stored in a databases as with desktop based systems but this database is on the Internet.

Server based systems come in two forms:

Hosted
Self Hosted

Hosted

The content management system is owned and maintained by someone else and you access your content and templates and other management features through web pages provided by the system provider.

Again you may be using one already without realising it. Site building packages like Sitebuild-it use a Content management system, they are also used in blogging systems like blogger.com and Wordpress.

Self Hosted

Content management systems usually use PHP or ASP pages and a database e.g. Joomla (ex Mambo). With a self hosted option you are required to install the scripts and database and configure the system.

Although this is not extremely difficult it the preserve of the technical and experienced web master. Because you have complete management control this is by far the most powerful option. See WordPress below.

Desktop Versus Server Based

If you are not permanently connected to the Internet then desktop based would be the obvious choice.

Sever based systems are usually much more powerful than desktop based ones and are the preferred choice for professional websites.

Do You Need One?

The two main features offered by content management systems are:

No technical knowledge needed to add content
Easy to change look and feel (i.e. template)

Although content management systems have typically been used by large websites with experienced webmasters they are becoming more popular with smaller sites due to the flexibility and the wide range of attractive templates.

Joomla is a free open source content management system which is being increasingly used by small site owners like real estate agents, small businesses, affiliate marketers etc.

Wordpress-Although used primarily as a blogging platform it is being used more often as a standard website platform. It is much simpler to set up and administer than systems like Joomla and is your site is mainly content driven then it is sufficient.

I am currently running three sites using it and it has become my preferred hosting option.

Related Articles and Resources:

Website Design and Build Considerations

2008-01-29T23:58:00.007-08:00

Website Design and Build Considerations

Many people start to build a website by choosing a domain name and web host and then decide on the website design, and in particular, the website building approach.

There are many different ways of building a website and there is no single best way.

It is also important to note that this doesn't just affect those who opt to build it themselves, it is also important for those who are having their site built for them.

Why? Well a web designer who is Good with Dreamweaver will think that all his clients need a hand built site. One who likes Joomla will build them as Content Managements sites.. These may not be the ideal choice for his clients.

Building is only the Start

It is important to note that a website is probably never finished. So what happens if the site needs changing ? Who is going to do it, and how difficult is it to do.

What if it requires extra functionality? Is it possible with the chosen design method, and again how difficult is it to do?

Static or Dynamic Sites

Static ones are HTML or more commonly Today HTML/CSS. These sites are very easy to build (There are many templates available) and are simply edited using a web page editor, and are supported on all hosts.

They lack functionality e.g. How do implement a poll, comments etc. How do you change the navigation on all the web pages?

Dynamic Ones use some form of scripting (e.g. PHP,ASP) are very flexible and allow for advanced features. They are however difficult for the novice to understand.

Generally small sites (<20) with limited functionality can use static sites. The larger the site (regardless of extra functionality) then dynamic sites are better.

So you really need to have an idea of

Roughly How big your site will be
What functionality will be required

Take for example a restaurant website. The owner elects for a simple 5 page brochure site. With just a Introduction home page a map, directions and contact, the menu and prices.

Simple enough a static HTML site... But he finds that he is getting lots of people visiting his site and decides to implement an online booking. He would also like to issue special coupons, and run a monthly prize draw.

This is going to require some form of programming. But does his package support it? How easy is it to implement? Who is going to do it?

How websites are Built

First it is important to understand that all websites are built from a site template. This is the first web page that is created and it is the starting point for all of your web pages.

Therefore the first step is to decide on what type of site template you are going to be using.

Using a Designer

If you pay a web designer for a site you will get a few standard web pages like home, contact, Privacy policy etc, all created using a page template.

This template may be one that the web designer has build him/herself from scratch or may be a free or commercial template that they have modified.

The same considerations apply when you make your own site. You can design the site template yourself or you can obtain one and modify as necessary.

Self Built Templates

If you design your own you have far more flexibility but far more work, and you require not only design flair but also the technical knowledge.

Even though I have done it several times I wouldn't recommend this approach, as unless you have an eye for design it is very difficult to get a professional looking site.

Pre-Built templates

There are many sources of high quality professional pre built templates both free and commercial. For a normal small business website then you should easily find a suitable one for free or low cost.

The problem with them is that they will require modification and may require software tools to edit properly.

Therefore I always recommend that you choose a simple html/CSS template.

They are an ideal choice for small websites (1-20) pages that will be fairly static. However if you think that you will be adding new features to the site (like feedback forms, newsletters, comments etc) then you should start thinking of using a content Management type system like:

Site build-it or Wordpress

Site build-it is a complete hosting package that includes site templates, newsletters, blog etc.

It is a favourite of mine because it enables novice webmasters with very little technical knowledge to build a successful professional website.

It is however a little more expensive than standard hosting. You can find more information at the site build-it site.

But what about Wordpress? Isn't it a blogging platform? Well it is, but a blog is a website, and a website can be a blog (see websites and blogs). Wordpress now has the ability to move the blog from the home page and function more like a traditional website.

Wordpress also has many additional plug-ins that expand the capabilities developed by Wordpress enthusiasts and most are free.

But most importantly from our standpoint it has many attractive and professional designs (themes) that you can easily change.

On the negative side although you don't need to be a web designer you will still need to administer it and make the necessary changes to get it to function correctly.

You will need support by your host I use 1and1 Uk for my UK Wordpress sites and the .com site by Blue Host .

Recommendations

If you are non technical, need first class support, and excellent documentation then Site Build-it is probably the best choice.

If you are more technical, want great flexibility and are willing to do some leg work to get the site exactly as you want it then Wordpress is an excellent choice.

Using either Pre-build or self made templates is probably the easiest way to start but does require more knowledge as the site expands. Making changes to the site look and feel can be very time consuming unless you have added sophisticated navigational elements using PHP, Server sites includes or similar.

However for a small 1-20 page site then is is usually all you need.

Related articles and Resources

Website Hosting and Host Options

2008-01-29T23:58:00.005-08:00

Website Hosting and Host Options

There are literally thousands of companies offering website hosting packages and domain registering services - All with a thousand and one different options.

Choosing a website host/website hosting package and choosing a domain name are probably the two most confusing things when starting your own website.

Your type of website will have a great impact on your choice of website host as the requirements for a personal website are considerably different form a business site.

When it comes to hosting your Website there are three main choices (in order of popularity):

1. Shared Hosted server - The Most common solution

This is the least expensive option and the most widely used for personal websites and small to medium size businesses. There are two types available:

Free Hosting
Normal Paid Hosting

Free Hosting

Free web hosting is not recommended for commercial websites and is discussed more fully in the free hosting section.

Paid Hosting

This is typically the choice of a small to mid-sized business offering clients the ability to host their Website with their own domain name on a powerful, professionally managed server at a low monthly cost.

The most characteristic feature of shared /virtual Web hosting is that services are usually bundled into packages. The actual Web services offered by the providers, and their prices, differ greatly and you should understand what you want from your website and compare several providers before choosing.

The object is not to choose the cheapest or the one with the most features but the one you need and is this is examined in more detail in choosing a web host or package.

You should also remember that if you want to host several websites it is possible to use a single account using Multiple Domain Hosting providing your hosting provider support it.

2. Dedicated Server Provided by a Hosting Provider

This is the second most expensive option and is for organisations who have many Website visitors and/or have special requirements like customized scripts and applications. The server software and hardware is maintained by the provider but you have full access to the server including your own scripts directory.

3.Your Own Server

This is the most expensive option as you need to buy and maintain your own hardware and software and also be permanently connected to the internet. This option is used by large organisations and organizations that have there own technical personnel.

Speciality Website Hosting Packages

If you require a website for some special function then you may find it better to go to a hosting provider that specialises in that area. Very common ones are wedding websites and Adult websites.

Related articles and Resources:

Website Hosting Services

2008-01-29T23:58:00.003-08:00

Website Hosting Services

One of the main reasons people have difficulty choosing a website hosting provider is because they get confused by all the different 3 letter acronyms like SSI, SSL, SQL, PHP, ASP and the 101 different service/feature options.

Generally most of the options offered with even the basic packages today are not even used.

Before you can decide on what services your website needs you need to know what you want your website to do!

So rather than focus on the actual services themselves I will focus more on what you may want to do with your website and the features that the host website will need to accomplish this.

Function	Web Service/Feature
Provide private area or membership site	Password protected web pages /directories
Sell products	Ecommerce features if you have many products to sell. If you only offer a small selection then it is far easier to use third party solutions like PayPal- See selling online.
Newsletter	Pre-installed Newsletter script or use third party autoresponder service
Contact Form	Pre-installed Form to email script or PHP support and make your own/use pre made third party script.
Forum	Pre-installed forum software or obtain software usually requires php and MYSQL support.
Flexible Navigation	As your website develops you will find that the navigation changes. In order to change the navigation you may find yourself having to change all your existing web pages. This can be overcome by using JavaScript, Iframes, PHP or Sever Side Includes (SSI) for navigation. JavaScript and Iframes is done on the client not the server.
Common content on each page	This can be a copyright notice, site headlines, adverts and of course site navigation. Choices are the same as site navigation.

If you are unsure as to what service you need to do something with your website then just use the Askwebmaster form and I will do my best to help.

The Website FAQ page has a list of common services/functions and what they do

Website Hosting Services

2008-01-29T23:58:00.001-08:00

Website Hosting Services

Generally most of the options offered with even the basic packages today are not even used.

Before you can decide on what services your website needs you need to know what you want your website to do!

So rather than focus on the actual services themselves I will focus more on what you may want to do with your website and the features that the host website will need to accomplish this.

Function	Web Service/Feature
Provide private area or membership site	Password protected web pages /directories
Sell products	Ecommerce features if you have many products to sell. If you only offer a small selection then it is far easier to use third party solutions like PayPal- See selling online.
Newsletter	Pre-installed Newsletter script or use third party autoresponder service
Contact Form	Pre-installed Form to email script or PHP support and make your own/use pre made third party script.
Forum	Pre-installed forum software or obtain software usually requires php and MYSQL support.
Flexible Navigation	As your website develops you will find that the navigation changes. In order to change the navigation you may find yourself having to change all your existing web pages. This can be overcome by using JavaScript, Iframes, PHP or Sever Side Includes (SSI) for navigation. JavaScript and Iframes is done on the client not the server.
Common content on each page	This can be a copyright notice, site headlines, adverts and of course site navigation. Choices are the same as site navigation.

If you are unsure as to what service you need to do something with your website then just use the Askwebmaster form and I will do my best to help.

The Website FAQ page has a list of common services/functions and what they do