Creating the Web Site

Part of my "job" for bigskyfishing.com is to go fishing and rafting on Montana's rivers. This picture is from my raft on McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park. Photo Use Guidelines

Since a home based web business requires content to be published to the Internet, it is obvious that a web site needs to be created to hold the content. Before beginning to create the web site, though, you need something to call it (the web site name) and you need a domain name to "hold it".

A domain name is how visitors are able to find your site. Thus, at our site, "bigskyfishing.com" is our domain name, which of course matches our site name - "Big Sky Fishing.Com". When selecting a domain name for your Internet home business, try to select a domain name that is close as possible to the "theme"" is quite easy to remember and to type into a browser window. Any domain name you select should follow in a similar fashion and be focused on the theme of your website.

Here's some example of web site names to avoid : I-Want-To-Buy-Viagra-Now.com; How-To-Make-A-Fortune.Com; etc....

You get the idea. In general, when selecting a domain name...try to only use 1 dash in the domain name. Some sites do ok with two dashes. BUT...if you can get a "dashless" domain name like "bigskyfishing.com" is, GO FOR IT instead. Dashless domain names are FAR easier to remember.

Once you have selected a domain name for your web site, the next step is to go about creating it. When looking at creating a web site, there are three ways to go about it.

1. Pay someone to design the site. Pay a web designer to design the web site design for you. You still need to supply the content.
   
   
2. Design the site yourself using a web design program. Requires a high degree of proficiency in designing a web site and good knowledge about computers in general.
   
   
3. Use a comprehensive web business program, which effortlessly designs the site and takes care of all technical details. All you do is put in the content - everything else is taken care of.

The first method, paying someone else to design a web site for you, is the simplest but is extremely costly. Since it costs well upwards of several thousand dollars to have a professional design even a small site (and this does not include the content that needs to be added), I do not recommend a person starting off this way when creating their own home based web business. This is especially so since, as you expand the web site, you'll have to pay the person yet again.

The second method, designing the web site on your own, requires some technical expertise and some time to learn the programs you use to create the web site (such as Dreamweaver). However, for those who have the time to do it, this is an excellent way to go. By designing your own web site, you have total control over how it looks. You will also learn a lot - and I mean, A LOT. To properly design your own web site, though, will require purchasing a good web design program and web graphics program. The two programs I recommend (and that were used for bigskyfishing.com) are Dreamweaver and Fireworks, which cost around $550 between the two of them. Other programs you might, sooner or later need, include Adobe Photoshop or PhotoElements, Apache, My-SQL, and this list is truly endless.

The third method, and the one I recommend for those that do not have the necessary web design programs or the necessary computer experience, is to use a very nice program called Site Build It. What this program does is to take your content and fit it into templates that you can then easily customize. Using Site Build It requires no technical expertise at all - the program handles everything relating to coding and building a web page.

What separates Site Build It from other web design programs, such as Dreamweaver, is that it does a number of very helpful things for successful web publishing that most people new to building a home based Internet business are not familiar with. Site Build It, in addition to allowing the user to build a web page by simply pointing and clicking a mouse, also does:

1. Web Page Optimization - This is very important, since a well optimized web page will draw in more traffic from the search engines.
   
   
2. Submission of Site to Search Engines - Site Build It will automatically submit your web pages to the search engines, so that they begin to appear almost immediately and can be found by visitors.
   
   
3. Domain Name Registration - You choose the domain name (discussed later) and Site Build It will register the name for you and will pay the registration fee.
   
   
4. Web Hosting - Site Build It comes with free web hosting, so you won't have to pay to have your web site hosted (saves you $5-20 per month).
   
   
5. Graphic Tools - Site Build It comes with a fairly powerful suite of graphics tools, allowing you to build logos and other graphics for your web pages.
   
   
6. Analysis of Web Site - This is where Site Build It really earns its keep. It analyzes traffic patterns to your web site, allowing you to easily determine who comes into your web site and who leaves it.
   
   
7. Internet Business Suggestions - This is what really seperates Site Build It from any other program. This program has been designed for individuals who specifically want to start a content based web site and to make money from it. It will help you suggest topics, find keywords to use and help you incorporate proper placement of your content for good search engine placement.

Site Build It is the best way for a person without the time or technical expertise to get started in creating an home based Internet business - not just a web site. The program does all the technical AND basic business work for you, freeing you to concentrate on creating the content for your web site. It even comes with a no-questions asked, hassle-free, guarantee, so you really have nothing to lose by trying it.

I have given Site Build It a test drive, so to speak, and came away really liking the program. I did not use Site Build It to create bigskyfishing.com, as I did not find out about this program till well along in my design (after 1000 pages and 9 months online, by which time it was far too late to just "switch" formats). Additionally, since I'm very computer proficient, I prefer having complete control of all HTML code. However, after using Site Build It I came away very impressed, and believe it is the best way for someone who is serious about starting their own Internet home business, and lacks strong web design skills, to start out. Site Build It costs less than buying Fireworks and Dreamweaver, and the free web hosting, domain registration and powerful site building features make this a program extremely helpful for new web publishers.

Learn How Site Build It can help you start your own Internet home business.

You can also take a Quick Tour of Site Build-It.

And, don't forget, part of the process of creating the web site is creating the content that will go inside it! By and large, use a normal word processor to create the content, such as Microsoft Word, although even boring WordPad will do. Then copy the text directly into whatever program you are using to create the web site.

OK. We've discussed how to choose a topic for your website, how to create the website and what is involved in starting out in creating a home based Internet business.

Next Page : Publishing Your Business Online

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