By: Ashley
Let's make up a scenario. You are in a search, and you see a heading that catches your attention. You imagine finding a great layout, and equally good content. You click to enter, and you are forced to sit through minutes of loading time, only to find broken images everywhere. You notice the layout is no more than a background. The content of the site is jumbled onto the page with no more care than a person throwing a piece of clothing into the laundry basket. You sigh, but want to see the content so you keep going. You right click and try to use "Show Picture" but the images won't work. You finally give up, and continue on. You try to use a link to travel around the site, but it's a broken link so it won't work. You then try to refresh the page, but this still doesn't work. Then you click the "Back" button, but you are again lead to a broken link. Now completely frustrated, you close the window, and go back to the search, hoping to find a better site.
Sound familiar? It should. It happens all the time, all over the web. You end up annoyed and also loosing a nerve or two. This article is not to poke fun at those who have sites like this; this article is to give suggestions and helpful tips on how to make a better site.
The number one thing on ever site owner's mind is to find a reliable hosting service. This is often easier said than done. For those of us who want the benefits of owning a site, without paying, it can be very hard. Some hosts are often down, and have low bandwidth; also, most have annoying popups, and most of all of them don't allow you your own domain names. There is some good though. It's free, you have some bandwidth and you don't have to worry about thinking up your own domains and hosting. For those of us who are willing to pay for our sites, we just have to worry about the cost; unless it is the kind which is the same as the free ones', which I find no point in owning because they are the same thing. There are many good things about paying for your site. You don't have to worry about banners or annoying popups, you have your own domain, and you have tons of bandwidth.
The next thing a site owner needs to worry about is content. You can't have a site unless you have something to put in it. Many people make homepages, and others make fan pages. Before you begin putting lots of pictures on your site, you should write the content. If you want a fan page, write about the thing you enjoy, if you want to make a homepage, think of things to put in it. After that is all done, find a good layout (or make one) and upload it onto your site. You then add it to your pages, along with the content. After all this, you can begin with images.
You need to know html and/or ftp to have a site. Html is easier in my opinion, so I will base this paragraph on it. You need to use the correct codes for your images and content. For pictures, always right click the image and go to properties to copy the code, and then paste it into the area of your choice. You have to use the correct html codes as well. Always check for problems for saving. After you are done, go to the page and if there are problems, go back and fix it. Just don't leave it like that, that is lazy.
Now that you know what to do, you have to get up the energy. Owning a site can be hard work, so you have to WANT to do it. You should always have fun, and enjoy it. Now, go out there and make some great sites! Thank you for your time.
Comments on this article can be sent to: Ashley.
