Making a website is not nearly as complicated or scary as many people think it is. Then again, though, it is not nearly as easy or simple as the rest of you are assuming it is! As with most things in life, dear friends, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. And in that middle, you will find your perfect website waiting for you: a shining beacon of hope in an internet full of gross, hilarious, titillating, annoying, and even boring places. Yes, there are a lot of websites in the world, but only one will be yours! Well, more than one if you do a good job with this one, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, right?
So, the first step in deciding how to make a website for yourself is to know what it is that you want. “That’s easy,” you’re probably thinking. “I want a website, you ignoramus!” Well, to that I would say: oh, so you know what kind of layout you want? How many pages you need? Have you created a site map to organize your thoughts? Have you decided whether to use flash applications, to have a multimedia section, or a community area with forums, a chat room, or other features? And if so, how would you customize those?
These are all things that you have to decide when you make a website. Fortunately, some of these decisions can be made on the fly, and you will inevitably change your vision of what you want as you continue to work on the site itself. Part of knowing how to make a website is knowing what you need and what you don’t. If you pay someone else to make a site, extra features that you don’t need will cost you money! Even if you don’t, they will cost you time and effort.
If you do not want to shell out the dough to have a website designed for you, and if you don’t know how to do it yourself (which, if you did, you probably wouldn’t be reading this), you will wonder what to do. Well, you can use free website and flash templates and other resources to help you, or even use a website design program to assist you. You can find many such resources when you find a company to host your website, which often includes everything else you need in one place.
Do not fear as you walk boldly into cyberspace! Figuring out how to make a website is not akin to decoding an ancient language or figuring out why men and women can’t get along for very long. Instead, it just requires an open mind, a willingness to learn, and the ability to use the best part of the internet: searching!
