FAQ's About Creating a Website

Before Your Build Your Site

How do I get started?
How much does it cost to create my website?
Do I have to learn how to program?
What is a "web host" and do I need one?

How to Create Your Web Pages

I want to learn HTML.  Where do I go?
What's the best software to use to create my web pages?
How do I save my web pages to Internet?
How do I add pictures to my web site?

Getting Traffic to Your Web Site

How do I advertise my site?
How do I get my site listed with the major search engines?
Should I pay for those services that submit my web site to the search engines?
Should I participate in banner exchanges?

Making Money & Selling Products

How do I sell products from my own website?
What's the best way to collect payments?
I don't have a product to sell. Can I still make money?

Before Your Build

How do I get started?

The first step in creating a web site is registering a domain name (www.somename.com).  However, before you choose a name too quickly, you will want to read the tips on how to choose the best domain name.

If you're looking for a free site, I would strongly recommend not choosing this option.  Read why.

Once you have your domain name, you need to select a web hosting company so you can start creating your web pages.

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How much does it cost to create my website?

As with almost anything, there is free and there's fee.  I personally have had nightmares with the free web hosts because they can't guarantee stability and longevity for your site.  Plus, search engines like Google tend to ignore them.

If you plan on creating a site that lasts, I strongly recommend registering your own domain name instead of using the free web hosters. These days, the prices are so reasonable, it's definitely worth spending a few bucks.

There are two costs associated with building and maintaining a website:

1) The domain name (a yearly fee)

2) Web hosting (a monthly fee)

The price will vary depending on how far in advance you pay for your site.  Generally if you pay for domain names years in advance (instead of year by year) you'll get a better deal.

The same goes with hosting.  Some hosts will give you a better deal if you pay six months in advance for example versus one month at a time.

Go here to learn more about domain names.

Go here to learn more about web hosting.

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Do I have to learn how to program?

Absolutely not.  In fact, most of the web hosts recommended here provide either a web authoring tool or some kind of templates to aid with your website creation so there's no programming knowledge necessary.

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What is a "web host" and do I need one?

In addition to a domain name, you need a web host. A web host provides the support for building your web site.  Every web site needs to be hosted somewhere.  The hoster gives you a certain amount of space for all of your web pages, provides email addresses and other features you may need to build your site.

Get more details on affordable web hosting.

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How to Create Your Pages

I want to learn HTML.  Where do I go?

I have a short HTML tutorial here if you'd like to learn the basics.  I would also recommend going to Amazon.com and picking up some guides on learning HTML.  Most of them are under $15.

If you don't want to learn HTML then you can use a web hosting company like WebSite Tonight that provides templates that you can choose from so you don't have to learn how to design or program.

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What's the best software to use to create my web pages?

I used to use Microsoft FrontPage, but since they phased it out to make room for Expression Web, I decided to switch.

I now use Dreamweaver and that's what I used to create this site. It's great for all levels of experience and it's a widely used program so you'll have no trouble getting help and support.

Most web hosts support FTP-ing so if you use Dreamweaver, you can publish your site to the Web directly from the software. All you do is create an FTP user/pass with your web host and you're all set.

To begin building your site you can get free templates from a place like FreeCSSTemplates.org. Just open the template in Dreamweaver and begin building your site!

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How do I save my web pages to Internet?

If you've chosen a free web site provider, there is usually an option to "save" right after you create your page.  

If you have decided to register your own domain (dot com) name there are 3 common ways to save your work:

1) Use and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program.  If your web hosting company supports FTP then you can transfer the files from your hard drive to their server.  For a quick FTP tutorial, click here.

2) Many web hosters support the web page creation program, Microsoft FrontPag.  If you have that program you can save your pages easily through this software. 

If your hoster supports this software, there will be instructions on how to install the extensions so you can upload your pages.

Also if you have programs like Dreamweaver or Nvu, you can also publish your site directly to the Internet using your web host's FTP username and password.

3) If your web hoster provides built-in software or some kind of web authoring tool (like Website Tonight does) then saving your pages is a snap.  You'll just use the save option that's built right into the tool.

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How do I add pictures to my web site?

Website Tonight offers a photo gallery template that makes adding pictures to your site a snap!  If not, you can learn how to insert images into your pages by reading the HTML tutorial.

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Getting Traffic to Your Web Site

How do I advertise my site?

There are many ways to advertise your site, but the most effective way is "word of mouth."  It's free and if people can recommend your site that makes it even more credible.  

The more useful and unique you can make your site, the more others will want to bookmark and tell others about it.  The biggest mistake people make when building their sites is lack of content.  

If your site is for information purposes and you want to reel in the traffic, then you need to start out with at least 30 pages of content and plan to keep building.  Give people a reason to return.

The search engines and directories are another great place to promote your site and some of them are still free (Google, for example).  See my search engine listing page for tips on how to get listed in the major search engines.

Link exchanges are another traffic-building tool.  Find people with sites similar to yours and ask for a link exchange.  That just means, they put a link on their site to yours in return for a link on your site to theirs. 

Keep in mind it's most beneficial to link up with sites that have similar content.  If your site is about jewelry, it won't do you much good to link up to a site that is about soccer.

Pay Per Click Search Engine Advertising

Another helpful marketing tactic is pay per click advertising.  You basically bid on keywords you want to show up for in the search engines and then you set the maximum amount you'll pay per click.

So if you have the 2nd highest bid at .15 cents for the phrase "handy crafts" then you'll show up in the #2 spot for that keyword search.  You only pay the .15 cents when your site gets a click.

I use Yahoo's pay per click program and it's great because you can set your daily spending limit and they provide great reports so you can see how well your ads are doing.  Learn more about Yahoo's pay per click program.

Blogging

If you haven't heard of blogging, you will soon. It's the latest and greatest craze that allows people to publish their online journal.  There are several sites that now offer free blogs and they are great traffic generators since they are like mini-websites within themselves.

If you create a blog, you can link your website to it and it may give your site a boost in the search engines.

Learn more about creating a blog here.

Learn more about getting traffic to your site.

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How do I get my site listed with the major search engines?

These days, the keys to getting your site listed and ranked high with the popular engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN is all about links.  You want to get other sites that are related to your theme to link back to you using the keywords you are targeting.

For example, if your site is about bowling balls, you will want to partner with other bowling related sites and get them to link to you using bowling related keywords.

This helps provide a "vote" for your site and the search engines start to see that your site must be worthy of a good rank if other people are linking to it using certain keywords.

Learn more about getting listed in Google, MSN and more.

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Should I pay for those services that submit my site to the search engines?

Absolutely NOT!  The best way to get into a search engine is to submit manually.  A lot of these services that charge for submissions are using some bulk submission software that is rejected by most search engines and directories.  Don't let these scam artists take your money.  Submit to the search engines and directories yourself.  For more details on why you should not use these multi search engine submission services, click here.

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Should I participate in Banner Exchanges?

Banner advertising has really lost its effectiveness over the years and in my opinion, is not really worth the time.  Unless you have the big bucks to advertise on some of the larger networks like Yahoo.com, then I wouldn't waste your time with banner exchanges.

If you really want to learn how to create an effective link exchange that can really bring you targeted traffic, read about the Value Exchange program by SiteSell.com. 

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Making Money & Selling Products

How do I sell products from my own website?

To sell anything from your site, you'll want to setup some kind of shopping cart software and be sure you have some way to accept credit card payments.

You can either install the shopping cart on your own server (requires a bit of tech knowledge and help from your web host), or you can outsource a shopping cart service.

Powweb hosting offers a built-in shopping cart for free if you use them to host your site.  This is ideal because you don't have to learn to install and code your own cart.

PayPal is another solution.  No shopping cart installation is necessary and they manage all the credit card transactions then send the money to your bank account.  It's much easier to setup and their basic plan is free!

Many webmasters create and sell their own ebooks from their site.  ebooks are so convenient because your customers can download the book right from your site.  You can use PayPal to collect the money.

Free Book on How to Sell on the Internet

Make Your Site Sell! swept the Net in 1999. It was UNDERpriced at $17 and OVERdelivered beyond anyone's expectations.  In 2002, it received a major overhaul and was re-released with over 1,500 pages and 7 jam-packed volumes.

Don't let the "2002" in the title fool you.  The strategies in this book are still very relevant for today's webmaster.

Get your printer ready because this book is chuck-full of goodies you'll want to read over and over again. 
Download it here.

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What's the best way to collect payments?

I would highly recommend using a third party site to collect your payments, unless you want to go through the rigmarole of applying for a merchant account, acquiring a business license, etc.

This means another company handles all your transactions and sends the profits directly to you.  They take a percentage of every sale.

Click here to learn more about third party credit card merchants.

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I don't have a product to sell. Can I still make money?

Absolutely.  What you may want to think about is joining some affiliate programs.  These allow you to earn commissions by referring your visitors to other products and services.

Once a sale is made as a result of your referral, you receive either a flat rate determined by the merchant or a percentage of the sale.  You don't collect the orders, talk to the customers, or ship the products. 

The merchant company handles all the transactions.  All you do is send people to their site and collect your commission.

See how I've been making money for years with no product to sell.  

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