How to Build a Website

Ok, so now you've decided on your Business Idea, you've Researched your Keywords, you've Chosen a Domain Name and decided on Web Hosting that's right for you.

The next step is turning your ideas into reality and building a web page.

You have a few choices here - I've listed 4 choices below starting from the least expensive (and most difficult) and moving on to the most expensive (and least difficult) options

1) Build it yourself writing HTML - this is probably the most time consuming method, especially if you don't know HTML, but this will cost you nothing and allow you to have complete control over the look and feel of your site. This is how I maintain the website that you are reading now.

Even if you don't choose to build your site from scratch using HTML it pays to learn a little HTML so you can make small changes and fix problems on your site. HTML isn't a programming language, it's just a way of formatting text, so this isn't something that's only for the techies!

I recommend the following free HTML resources if you are learning HTML from scratch or looking for an HTML reference.

• http://www.htmlgoodies.com/
• http://www.w3schools.com/

All the above sites have free HTML tutorials and good reference guides. Once you've build some web pages you may find it useful to use an HTML validator. Net Mechanic provides free trials of its HTML validation tools. These tools will check for things like broken links, invalid HTML, page load time etc.

I also recommend the free HTML Kit for editing and previewing your HTML.

2) Build it yourself using a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) Editor. If you don't want to learn HTML these editors allow you to build and edit web pages in the same way that you would edit a document in a word processor. The most well known examples of WYSIWYG editors are Microsoft's Frontpage and Dreamweaver. If you're looking for a free or a cheaper option you may want to try:

• NVU
• Amaya
• iPROBuilder

3) Use a free template or pay for a template and build your site using method 1) or 2) - like me, if you're no good at graphical design you may want to use a template for inspiration. My website http://www.suzannestravels.com was built using a template. I bought this template from Template Monster for around $30, downloaded it and edited the HTML directly. You can also edit the templates in WYSIWYG editors. There are free templates available, but if you want something that looks really professional you'll probably be better paying a fee. You can usually get a decent template from $15-$60. Here are some template sites:

• Template Monster has a wide ranging set of templates in all sorts of styles for different niches and price ranges.
• Boxed Art - this site provides a wide range website templates, graphics and Ebook covers. They also do custom work.

4) Get someone to design your website for you - this is probably the most expensive option. You could either get someone to design only the graphics and a template for you - this is how I built my site http://www.placestovisitinflorenceitaly.com. You could go a step further and have someone design the complete site. If you go for either of these options, make sure that you see examples of the designer's previous work and obtain a quote up front.

If none of these methods suit you and you just want a website right now, you can do what I did when I first started out and get a Plug-In Profit Site. You'll get a fully customizable website built within 24 hours, promoting 5 different affiliate programs.

Another alternative is GDI which provides you with a domain name, web hosting, free templates a web building application and commission if others sign up through your link all for just $10 a month