Noob Help On Website Design

BUMP!!

I really need some guidance guys...

Thanks

Morning Oz!

UK calling!

Domain name

You may know what you want your site called. Jot it down then do some variations e.g

BrisbaneBeach.com
brisbanebeach.com
brisbanebeaches.com
beachesatbrisbane.com

Google in"domains"

You will get a wide range of companies with whom you can register

BEWARE some will take your enquire , steal the name, then tell you you can buy it from them!

If you stick with the "bigboys" like godaddy you cant go wrong

Also, if the domain is taken they will show a list of similar name variations

As to web design, people like godaddy provide a point and click web design service

Beware of the "Free services" advertised in the classifieds,they usually are not

Unless you are talented/experienced stick with the simple ones

Hosting. If it is a personal web site, or small way of business you will get away with free hosting. These sites hope you will grow and need more facilities later for which you can the sign upto
Alternatively there are others, again stick with the big boys
I will be pleased to point you in the direction of a number of these options, have just gone through the exercise!

Sometimes you will see a package of domain with perhaps free hosting and web design facilities

Enough food for thought. Want any more info. post back

Regards

Brillhill

Have a look at 960.gs

It's a css framework, and it makes it a doddle to sort out the layout of your site. I used it for the site in my sig. Along with CodeIgniter - Open source PHP web application framework, but you need php skills for that, but it's not that difficult to learn.

Or you could try using a ready made CMS like Joomla, or CMSMadeSimple

The suggestions above are really good. If you're going to start with your own hosted site, Wordpress is probably the easiest place to start. Most hosts have auto installers and it will ease you in to the site creation process.

As far as hosting goes, the only large & affordable host I have ever had a good experience with is Hostgator - who have been great. You can get your first month with them for 1 cent. Just google "Hostgator 1 cent coupon" and you'll find a tonne of coupons to get that deal for you.

check out w3schools search for it on google.

Hostgator hosting, Namecheap Domains, just keep learning and you'll have a web presence in no time.

If you're new to it and want to invest the time, go look up "free css templates" through google. I believe there are freecsstemplates.com and templateworld.com which let you download some decent looking css templates.

(Word of warning, the coding is very exact, so little changes here and there may throw off the whole template - I think they do this intentionally, but still a good free resource)

If you don't want to do this as a career and just want a website up, then go with wordpress. Google "Download Wordpress," download it, up it to your site, then go find yourself a free template. They are everywhere. Google "free wordpress themes" and you'll get approximately 75198273108410924 websites with free templates.

Chris Farrell a Warrior member has a product you may want to check out. It helped me a lot

Chris Farrell - Create Your First Website By 3:45 This Afternoon

Yes, the best there is, period. Jakob Nielsen useit.com: Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design

There are many questions / answers, but here is where I would start:
1. before you design a site, have a business plan.
2. What is your logo? brand awareness is very important and can be the failure of a business if not memorable, catchy, and stands out.
3. What type of business is it? Are you planning on selling on the site, or is the site just informational. The answer to that will put you down 1 of 2 roads, 1 is much easier, the other requires SSL certificates, PCI compliance, and a host of other requirements for the site. If just informational you can start small with any CMS (wordpress, drupal etc) (yes, you can do E commerce with Wordpress, just not as well as you could with a shopping cart software)
4. What are you selling / what is your niche?
5. What seperates you from your competitors
6. Learn HTML / JQuery / Java Script etc. Starting at W3Schools.org is a great resource, you can become a Web Guru in short periods of time if you are diligent.
7. Design considerations: Colors, pick a scheme that accents your logo.
8. Search Optimization: go to seomoz.org and atleast be a free member, learn what SEO is, how it can benefit you so when you are developing / designing you are thinking about SEO and things to pay attention to. Anyone can design and launch a site, getting traffic and business from it are 2 different things.
9. Social networks: twitter, facebook, myspace, digg, reddit, mixx (all .com) etc. are important avenues for spreading your word, and promoting your brand. Will you use them to your advantage, or do you not need to? If you only have time for one, pick Twitter.
10. Domains: when you buy them (use godaddy they are cheap) check out revision3.com/godaddy for discount codes that are active! Opt in for Private Registration to avoid the WhoIs spam snail mails you will get, and to protect your name.

Finally, Have Fun.
Running a website is tough work, but if you do it right can be very fruuitful.

Go to the site in my sig and read the information there. I am an experienced web designer and I will set your site up for free if you register your hosting through my affiliate link.

as far as host go I like Web Hosting by DreamHost Web Hosting: Web Sites, Domain Registration, WordPress, Ruby on Rails, all on Debian Linux! If you use code hubpages you will receive a 35-40 discount for a year of service. Which cost about 100 a year there. Then as far as designing a website goes you will need a few things I use photoshop myself to build my designs then a site building program like dreamweaver or any of the others available. Pick a domain to go with your niche. You have many options available as far as web design goes if you use dreamhost as your hosting service. You can install joomla dropla wp or many other cms systems to use for your website base. With all of those mentioned above there is free designs available for you to choose from. All you have to do then is provide the content. You may also want to check out the first blog in my sig file. I go into detail on many other things you will need to make your site profitable. You should also look into getting a auto responder from Email Marketing Software, Email Newsletters and Autoresponders by AWeber this will be a vital piece to your new online business. Good luck hope that helps pal

Visit Free Word Press Setup and get your blog setup free by a pro.

Saint,

This is definitely a great forum to learn from...Lots of helpful folks..

No i don't think there is a difference when it comes to SEO etc..SEO is what you do to optimize your site after you have purchased the domain etc. The only difference is costs and the different packages they come in...

Well that's how i understand it...Someone will correct me if im wrong

Staccato, Get your domain name with godaddy.com, but do not host with them. Then among the thousands of fine hosting sites, hostgater.com is probably best for a beginner. If you want professional help with hosting, uploading, or even complete development, PM me.

After you have done this a few times, you will get the hang of it. Don't be scared to make a mistake - no big deal.

Domain should cost no more than $10, and hosting can be between $5 - $25/ month depending on your needs.

Don't hesitate to contact me.

James

Saint, In general, your host service will not affect your SEO efforts. Some host IPs are blacklisted because they are used primarily for spam and should be avoided, but for the most part, you won't run into this with legitimate hosting companies.

One way to avoid any problems at all is to get dedicated hosting with a unique IP, but this is a very expensive option for someone starting out and truthfully is not necessary. Having said that, last I checked Hostgater was offering a type of dedicated IP hosting for a very reasonable price.

Things that affect SEO most are: initial design, content (most important), and a variety of offline efforts that you will get into, such as artical and video production, backlinks, etc.

Hope this helps, and don't worry about it too much

I offer free consultation for Internet Serivces and can help you to build your online marketing strategy.

Good for you. Most of the battle is just putting the fear away and actually doing it. Yes, a pro can build a better website, but I think everyone should have at least a basic knowledge base. It's easier to be a better homebuilder if you've picked up a hammer a few times. Keep in touch.