How hard is it to make a website?

[Mavrick]

I'm sure plenty of people on here know more then I do about this so I thought I would ask you nice people:)

How hard is it to build a website, get a domain name and all that stuff. I want it to look half decent, but done on the cheap:D

[mathare]

How long is a piece of string?

Getting a domain name is easy - find one you want and apply for it. Basically.

Writing the website is trickier, or not - if you know HTML to start with.

Do you have any coding background? Could you write HTML in Notepad? or do you need a WYSIWYG editor such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver?

Do you know what the site should look like? I'd say this is very much stage 1. Draw out on paper how you want the site to look including frames, tables, graphics etc. Draw out a tree structure/map for the site including which pages will link to which other pages etc. It'll be much easier to write the site having the design on paper first

[Mavrick]

OK cheers mat. I haven't got any coding experience. I've got FrontPage on my computer, but I don't know how to use it:)

I'll have a look for a dummies guide. The site is going to be pretty simple with just a few pages and minimal graphics.

[Bill]

I learnt using Microsoft Frontpage. If you can get this installed on your computer and go to this link, http://www.fgcu.edu/support/office2000/frontpage/index-beginner.html you'll be able to do simple web sites very quickly.

[Mavrick]

That looks just the ticket Bill. Thanks alot.

[Win2Win]

The only problem with Frontpage is the server you want to use needs to have Frontpage extensions installed. Most do have them, although the software is no longer supplied.

[John]

The other option of course is to get hold of a copy of Adobe (Macromedia) Flash and do it that way. MUCH less coding, as all your site content sits inside a single .SWF (Shockwave Flash) file. Flash isn't particularly hard to learn the basics of either, and the Flash help files are amazing.

[Win2Win]

The only problem with that is people need the plugin to view it. Search engines HATE flash. Most users HATE flash sites as they do not follow the normal model they expect. Shall I continue? :D

[John]

But you hate anything whatsoever that doesn't conform to the norm... so your response doesn't surprise me. :D

And anyway, 99% of folk have the plugin installed.

[Win2Win]

And 1% of 1 Billion Internet users is....??

John, you need to do some SEO research, you will discover not one will agree with you. They are just not the way to do sites. How do you get traffic? The search engines will never find it! No traffic, you may as well draw the site on toilet paper :) (Vegy's way!!!)

[presto]

getting a domain / hosting is easy,
but building a site depends on your knowledge of webby stuff, a beginner could quite easily knock up a site - though it odbviously won't be as good as someone with website building experience.
then there is also the question of getting people to view your site, which requires considerable time and effort.

[TheOldhamWhisper]

Many hosting packages come with 'extras' such as easy to use templates that allow you to 'build' your site so that it has a common colour scheme etc. Others may also offer things like forums, your very own search engine, blog pages etc.

Prices are often based on bandwidth - if you are going to have lots of pictures or animations etc, you will need more than the standard package. If you exceed your bandwidth allocation, it can get pretty expensive so make sure you read the terms and conditions - especially the small print!!

[GlosRFC]

Search engines hate Flash? Not the main ones...and any coder worth their salt should be able to make the entire contents of their Flash site compatible with the major search engines.
Most users hate Flash? Again no...some pedantic users can't abide Flash but the majority of people enjoy the immersive experience.

I do have to disagree with John though...creating a website in Flash (despite the excellent help files) is a lot more difficult than creating one in HTML. And there's far more coding involved in creating that SWF than the zero coding within HTML. Also, there's the issue of bandwidth...a SWF will inevitably be bigger than a HTML file and will take far longer to download.

Creating a site in whichever technology is only the one part of it. You need to spend a lot of time deciding what it is you want to use the website for and then designing it so that it fits with your branding style. That means getting a grasp for visual design...which colours work together...how will a particular font impact upon your design...legibility and accessibility issues...how easy will it be to update in the future, and so on.

[Mavrick]

Thanks for all your replys guys. I've just seen some sites that offer ready to use templates which don't look too bad. I think I'll try to get to grips with FrontPage first as it seems to do most of the hard work for you.

I take it forums take up a lot of bandwidth? I wouldn't mind having one of them, but it will be limited to just a few people, not like this one and if it costs a bomb every month to host it then I won't bother.

[Win2Win]

[QUOTE]Search engines hate Flash? Not the main ones...and any coder worth their salt should be able to make the entire contents of their Flash site compatible with the major search engines.
Most users hate Flash? Again no...some pedantic users can't abide Flash but the majority of people enjoy the immersive experience.[QUOTE]
And how many folk know how to code them correctly? A small minority, as only a small number know how to code SEO into HTML.

Flash is fine on a site when used correctly, but not the whole site. I do 100's of searches a day and can't even remember coming across 1 web site this year written totally in Flash. I can remember 1 from last year, so they must be all over the place! :doh

HTML has so many 'add-ons' these days John, not really any need to do a complete Flash site. Learn pretty AJAX and I'll love you :hearty (not this much though...::hump)

[Win2Win]

I take it forums take up a lot of bandwidth? I wouldn't mind having one of them, but it will be limited to just a few people, not like this one and if it costs a bomb every month to host it then I won't bother.

Get you domain name at: http://www.123-reg.co.uk/ Don't buy it from a hosting company, it can be a pain to move it in the future.

For hosting that I've found reliable and you get a decent amount of bandwidth for your needs: http://www.supanames.co.uk/

If you are running a forum for friends, you won't use much B/W.

[Mavrick]

Looking at http://www.123-reg.co.uk/ Keith, some of the domain names only allow you the option of purchasing them for 2 years. Does this mean that I won't have the option of owning it for longer? Or will they have the option of charging a load of dosh if the website is a success for me to renew the domain name

Also, my friend recommended the website www.mrsite.co.uk, if I build a site using them, will I actually own it or will they own it? And does anyone have any idea how easy it is to update a website built through a company like that?

[John]

Flash is more difficult to learn, yes, but it depends what kind of site you're after. I'm going to redesign mine at some point totally in Flash, but I'm not interested in submitting it to the search engines because it will act as an online portfolio of work for potential employers (as it currently does). Having said that, as Glos said, the top search engines recognise Flash anyway.

Mavrick, as far as colour schemes go, Kuler (http://kuler.adobe.com) is definitely worth checking out... it's rather sexy. :)

[TheOldhamWhisper]

I've used 123-reg for years - you get a reminder a couple of months before the domain is due to expire and you have the option to renew. The prices stay much the same - I have paid the same price for the last 3 renewals.

Doing it this way though only give you a domain name that you can point to your site (which will probably be on another server somewhere).

Shop around if you need a site that is 'all-in-one' but do comparisons on renewal fees for this type of site - most only quote the price for renewing the hosting package but then add a further charge to cover domain registration (often well above the going rate).

[Win2Win]

Having said that, as Glos said, the top search engines recognise Flash anyway.

Not quite that easy I'm afraid, they will pick up certain terms within the code itself, but usually only with the 'object standby' or 'object title'.

If you do not have keyword density, then search engines have nothing to rank you on, as they find it very difficult to pick up what the text actually is, unless you mix it with HTML. The only othe SEO way of ranking is one-way links, reciprocal are pretty worthless these days.

Mav - You can only get .co.uk's for 2 years, .eu for 1 year, most others you can pay for 10.

As Oldham says, you just renew it, as it is always yours, even if you 'forget' to renew, you still have a period of time to pay, but they can charge you up to £200 as a penalty for them holding it for you.

[presto]

also i wouldn't worry too much about bandwith early on.
most hosting companies offer quite impressive figures - i think i am allowed something like 300gb bandwith per month - yet only use around 100mb :laugh

[Mavrick]

also i wouldn't worry too much about bandwith early on.
most hosting companies offer quite impressive figures - i think i am allowed something like 300gb bandwith per month - yet only use around 100mb :laugh

Presto do you get many views at all on your site? I was just thinking about how much B/W you use. I'm going to go the extremely lazy route and get the Mr Site one here http://www.mrsite.com/features.asp :)

It's just going to get the standard one to get me up and going, but it includes the .com domain and a years hosting. Can't really go wrong for the £35.

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as open source photos and stuff that I can stick on the site without getting done for copyright?

[Win2Win]

Becareful with the domain name, if you want world listings on SE's, you get a .com , if you want UK listings only .co.uk, and .eu for Europe :)

[Mavrick]

I've got a .com. Just registered it. I think I'm going to get the .co.uk with the same name so some cheeky monkey doesn't try to sell it back to me when my website is bigger then google:D

[Win2Win]

.....some cheeky monkey doesn't try to sell it back to me when my website is bigger then google:D


Takes some doing.....I've got around 100,000 pages indexed, only another few BILLION to go :ooo

[presto]

Presto do you get many views at all on your site? I was just thinking about how much B/W you use. I'm going to go the extremely lazy route and get the Mr Site one here http://www.mrsite.com/features.asp :)

It's just going to get the standard one to get me up and going, but it includes the .com domain and a years hosting. Can't really go wrong for the £35.

Does anyone know if there is such a thing as open source photos and stuff that I can stick on the site without getting done for copyright?

i get bugger all traffic.

just had a quick look at that site - the space seems quite small at only 150mb, and it didn't mention bandwith.
the problem with getting a .com with the domain is that you may have to tie the .com in with the hosting company - so you are stuck with them.

i think you can get it cheaper elsware to be honnest.
a .co.uk costs about £3 a year and hosting i have seen in the past from $3 a month.

[Mavrick]

Cheers Presto. In a way I wish I had got a co.uk one now. Nevermind.

I'm now all done and live. It's incredible what you can do without sleep. I won't post the address as not everyone's a fan of hamster porn:D

Thanks for everyones input, it was most appreciated:thumbs

[orientalexpress]

[QUOTE]

HTML has so many 'add-ons' these days John, not really any need to do a complete Flash site. Learn pretty AJAX and I'll love you :hearty (not this much though...::hump)

Currently studying this technology at uni and now that I've understood how it works amazes me :D............no I wonder how you can implement it on your site ? probably no need ?

[Win2Win]

This forum uses AJAX.

[GlosRFC]

This forum uses AJAX.

Quite right too...it needs a good clean in some of the dingy corners. And if it dissolves some of the scum spammers, that's a bonus!

[Win2Win]

Quite right too...it needs a good clean in some of the dingy corners. And if it dissolves some of the scum spammers, that's a bonus!

Have you been drinking Vegy's juice? :yikes: