On this page you can have a look at the steps involved in the creation of a website
Webpages, domain names and hosting
So, you want a website. In real-life terms, this means that you need (at least) three things:
- one or more webpages (which together make your website)
- a domain name (your web address)
- hosting (some company that will put your website on one of its computers)
Let’s look at these three components one by one:
Webpages
Generally speaking, webpages consist of
- content
- design
The content of your website is entirely up to you.
On the other hand...
The look of your website and the website’s proper functioning is better delegated to the expertise of a web designer.
Now, in our experience, 99% of our clients tend to be adherents of the well-known principle de gustibus non est disputandum — which in plain English and in this particular case, amounts to “everybody can be a designer”.
We dare not argue about that, especially if simply good looks, from a subjective point of view, are all that is expected. But if you want to impress not just yourself, but people out there, then you have to know what the majority of them are looking for, which quite often is different from what you may consider clear, understandable and attractive.
For this purpose, a professional, experienced designer can do for your website much more than deliver good looks — they can considerably enhance your content by making it unique, easy to follow and memorable.
It is this aspect of designing — knowing exactly how and what to do to present your content in the best posssible light — that takes it beyond a mere “everybody can do it” approach into the realm of a distinctly professional skill.
Web address
The choice of your web address is a very important step — it’s your new identity, it is how you present yourself to the world, how you will be referred to and remembered from now on, consciously and subconsciously, by the billions of your website’s future visitors. In short, choosing the right name for your website, apart from providing excitement and fun, is also a matter for serious consideration, mainly because the name you choose will determine the degree to which search engines will help others to find your website.
Now, after the fun part there cannot but come some disappointment — be prepared to find that your first-choice pick of "yourwebaddress.com" combination is already taken by somebody else. To find out which combinations are still available, go to http://www.whois.net/ (one of numerous websites that offer this service).
Hosting
This means that you have to find a company which will put your website on its computer and make it accessible to web users 24/7.
There is no shortage of hosting companies nowadays and your main concern should not be about the price (about $10 per month), but about reliability and the quality of customer support.
The quality of customer support becomes extremely important if you yourself are going to take care of the maintenance of your website.
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For both the hosting and the purchase of a web address it is advisable to speak with a professional before making contracts with a provider. This to eliminate the risk of having to change servers later.