Building A Website

Believe it or not, building a website can be a piece of cake even for a beginner. Many do not even attempt to do so however, because it seems such a daunting task. Learning html, perl, java and other important web brouser and computer languages can take a lot of time, and most people don't want to go back to school just to learn how to build a website. The fact is, with the page building programs and software on the market today, you can build a very nice, professional looking website with absolutely no html or scripting knowledge whatsoever.

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX is the program we use at TrueTest Marketing.com, and costs $399 for the full version and $199 for the upgrade. It is an awesome program, and is complete with tutorials and a help section that will answer any question you may have about building any type of web page, including Static or Dynamic pages, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Framesets. There are many templates and professional-quality predefined page layouts and scripts, and you can add useful pieces of HTML and JavaScript code to your pages by simply using the Snippets panel.

We like to keep ours pages simple, as you can see, because they are easy for our visitors to navigate, and if we need to add a new page, with Dreamweaver we can slap one together in just a few minutes. Literally!

If you would like a free trial download of Dreamweaver to see the awesome potential it offers, you can get one here: Free Trial

Dreamweaver also has it's own FTP client for uploading your pages once they have been created.

Now, if you aren't ready to dish out a few hundred bucks on page building software, there are many other options. Such as CuteHTML and CuteFTP. They are free to download and try, but you do need to learn some HTML. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.

There are thousands of websites offering free materials and tutorials for learning HTML. Some are full of a lot of unnecessary talk while others are straightforward and simple. You should search through many until you find one that teaches in a way that is easy for you to understand.

The way I learned HTML was much easier than reading through someone elses method of teaching. At least for me anyway. Since I don't like to read, unless it is a good book or something that can keep my attention, the best way for me to learn something is to have someone sit next to me and answer my questions directly and show me what I want to know. And since I didn't have someone like that, I did the next best thing.

Here is how I did it.

First, I would surf the web until I found a page that I really liked. Then I would copy the page source and then paste it into CuteHTML. I could then start manipulating it to get the effects I wanted, such as changing the font family, font size, font color etc.. Changing the jpegs and gifs (pictures) and the background picture or color. Moving around the layout and so on. It's a great hands-on way to learn HTML on your own. For me it was the best way, and I actually put my first page together in just a few hours. It wasn't flashy or real professional looking, but it was a page. And if I had known about templates back then it could have been quite nice.

If you want to give it a try, copy the page source of the page you want to use by simply clicking on the word View at the top of your web browser, then in the drop-down menu click on the word Source. Notepad will then open and the entire code will be displayed for that specific web page. You then simply copy the entire page code by right-clicking your mouse, and then left-clicking on the words Select All. You then paste it in a new CuteHTML page, or any other HTML editor, and start messing with the code. Just change it around a little and then view the page to see how the different parts of it work. It really is easy once you get the hang of it.

Front Page is a program that comes with Microsoft Office, and many people build thier web pages with it. I personally have never used it, but I have seen some very nice pages that were built using it.

There are a number of other free page building softwares that you can find on the internet by simply doing a search. Which ever one you choose, make sure that all of the codes are different colors so you can recognize them easily. Below are three examples. The first shows the page source using notepad, which is all black making it hard to recognize the different codes. The second is the same page using CuteHTML, and the third is the same page using Dreamweaver. Click on the following links to see them.

Notepad

CuteHTML

Dreamweaver

There are thousands of websites that offer free templates for you to use. Click Here to see some examples.

By far the easiest and cheapest complete package that we have found is through Global Domains International or GDI. Though they tout their multi-level marketing aspect of the system as the most appealing part, for someone who simply wants a web presence, there is nowhere else to get everything their package has to offer at such a low price.

GDI offers domain name registration, web hosting, a program called SiteBuilder, which has many templates to choose from for building your site, email addresses unique to your domain, and 100mb of storage space, all for only $10.00 per month. And there is no comitment whatsoever. You simply pay month by month as you use the system, and there are no hidden fees or penalties for canceling. And the best part is, you can use the complete system free for seven days with no limitations. That means you can register your own domain name, build a website, use the email addresses and everything else at no charge. If after seven days you decide you like the system, simply pay $10.00 for your next full month and that's all there is to it. Or simply cancel, and you won't be charged a penny.

To sign up for a free trial Click Here

More Than A Website

If you want more than just a website, but want to start and build a successful business with a web presence that guarantees your success, then you should check out Site Build It! It is the only all-in-one site-brainstorming-building-hosting-and-marketing step-by-step system of software tools that delivers thriving, profitable businesses.

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