How To Make a Website

Making a website can be very easy or very challenging depending on what features and design you want the website to use and what tools you have available.

There are a variety of options available for those who want to make a website, whether it is a full e-commerce site, or just a basic site with text and images.

If you don't want to learn the code that goes into making a website (primarily html, cascading style sheets and javascript), you can still build a website, but this means you won't have as much control over the design.

There are a variety of websites and software programs that will let you create a website or website design very quickly just by clicking and selecting options with your mouse. Usually, this means you have to settle for a template design, so you are stuck with that layout.

To be fair, some of these sites are improving and giving you somewhat more control, but if you want full control of the design, you should learn to code. Examples of these sites include Geocities.com and Atspace.com which give your site free hosting, so it goes online right after you design it.

To learn how to code, you should start with the basics, that is html. Then you should learn the basics of cascading style sheets. As for javascript, this is a lot harder for most people to learn, but it is easy to find scripts online that you can modify for your own use. For example, a dynamic menu bar where you can change the names of the headers. Websites with tutorials are easy to find online.

Then there are standalone programs that help you design a website like Adobe's Dreamweaver or Microsoft's Frontpage (now Expression). These programs give you WYSYWYG options, but it's still best to know the code if you want to make the site exactly to your preferences. Before putting the end result online, you should test it in multiple browsers and use emulators to test it on different devices such as the iPhone if you don't have one.

If you design your website using one of these programs, you will need it have it hosted. This means you need to find a host, which usually charges an annual fee. You will also have to register a domain name (ie. www.xyz.com). This too costs money. Once you've registered the domain name, you will have to renew it occasionally, depending on how long you register it for.

Once you've got a host, you will have to upload the html files and any other files like script files, images, audio and video files that comprise your website's design. Then your website will be live.

If you want to sell things online, you'll need a full credit card processing system, security features and something called a payment gateway. This is best done using third party shopping cart software such as Monster.com. The easiest way is by using PayPal, but then they'll take a cut of all your sales and potential customers who don't have or want a PayPal account won't buy from you. Another easy way to accomplish this is by using the Yahoo! Store service.

While all of this may sound a little daunting, as long as you are comfortable using computers and basic software programs, it really shouldn't be that difficult for you to make a basic website. If you want advanced features, then you'll have to invest some time learning how to code.