A to Z Guide for Home Builders
Pictures on the walls
You obviously want an attractive site that you can proudly tell your friends about and print on your business card. The best way is to use some attractive visuals, add those flashy headers and animated gifs, and now we’re getting somewhere.
Free visuals and images abound on the Net. And many generous designers give it all away for free. So all you need to do is go to these sites, click on the images you want to borrow and use it in your own. However, remember, the heavier the images, the more time will it take to download your page. So try and keep them small and relevant.
What about design?
The key to getting people to your site is promotion but to make them return is all about great design.
Many of us give in to the temptation of big, flashy graphics and large typefaces in bold red. Doing good design requires patience and time. Here are sites that will get you started…
How do I add the frills?
Once the basics are done, you are ready to host your site. But some of you will want more. Like a counter at the bottom to keep track of how many people have visited the page. Or a message board where browsers can discuss a specific topic within your site. This, however, depends on your hosting service, so check with them too. Or maybe an opinion poll or a service that can let people search the Web from your page!
What about that cool animated menu?
Now we’re talking of a slightly higher ground. But don’t worry, there’s nothing you have to do yourself. Most animation menus, pop-ups, scrollers and background colour changes are just a matter of adding some javascript to your HTML code.
The Webmonkey guide is especially helpful and has a collection of code fragments, function packages - a resource containing generalised code, specific workarounds, and good ideas that you can use to enhance your pages in ways you may not know how or might not want to bother with.
Code samples are provided free for use on your own Web pages, but modification and redistribution of the code may depend on the author. Many tech people love creating this stuff (its challenging, you know) and then distributing it for free. At the most you will need to indicate the source of the code in your copy. And if you’re using someone else’s efforts to spruce up your page, it’s only fair to give some credit to these hard working computer geeks.
Free java applets, games, downloads and programming tutorials are easily available. Remember to read all the instructions. When it comes to this stuff, leaving out an otherwise innocent looking sign can wreak havoc on your page!
Promotion
And no, I’m not talking about what’s long overdue on the job front. You’ve built a great looking site, but somebody has to come and have a look, right? There are many ways you can get the word out (again, for free!) and it is recommended that if you want the counter ticking furiously you try and use as many tools as possible.
So amidst this plethora of Web sites, how do you make your voice heard? Make sure you submit your site to all the major search engines. There are services that can help you do this and if this is offered for free, you might have to carry their banner on your site (fair, right?!). Make sure you’re using the right keywords when submitting your site.
Other promotional tools you can use are banner and link exchanges where you will have to advertise someone else’s banner and they will then do the same for you. There are a lot of sites that offer this facility and it is better to find out what the conditions are before you go ahead. You can also get yourself listed in Web directories. Most hosting services will enlist you in their members directories, so that you are visible to that community.
Webrings are common way of making your presence felt amongst sites that are similar to yours in nature. A Webring is a group of sites on the Web with a similar theme that point to each other in a ring formation. It’s a great way of connecting with people on the Internet who share your interests! For example, if you were dedicating your site to Pamela Anderson, you can join a PA Webring. This usually has to be approved of by the administrator of that Webring.
It’s an ongoing project
Don’t you really hate visiting sites that have broken links and were last updated in September 1998?
As you might have realised by now, the secret of a good Web page is that it is updated frequently. Keep yourself updated on the developments in Web site technology, hosting, writing, design etc, and how you can use these to improve your page. There are a lot of resources that will help you stay ahead. In the virtual world, something that was new yesterday is stale today. So treat it your Web site as an ongoing project.
After all, it’s your identity and face in the virtual world, and you do want to put up an attractive face, don’t you?