Want to learn the ABC's of creating a website? Congrats! You just stumbled upon the right place.

There's a lot of information on this site and if you're a beginner, it can be overwhelming. I created this quick guide just to give you an idea of what's involved with creating a website.

I encourage you to read it through once without clicking on any of the links just so you can understand the big picture. Then after you've absorbed the info, go back and click the links for more info.

Need Ideas? Having Trouble with Topic Choice?

While it's often tempting to choose topics where you've seen others have success, it's not always best to follow the leader.
Read about the importance of topic choice here.

What You Need to Build a Website

The domain name creates the address of your site.  So, mywebsite.com would be an example of a domain name. 
Domain names are paid for yearly and you can register them here.
I never endorse free webhosts.  They are too unstable, you never really own your site and you do not receive a true domain name.  Instead your address will be something like http://freesite.yourdomain.com.  In some cases, the domain may be even longer.
Read about my free website experience.
A website cannot exist without a web host.  This is the company that houses your files and provides the environment for you to create and save pages to the Internet.
Web hosts are usually paid for monthly (some are yearly).
Learn the importance of choosing the right website host. Very important page!
3) Web Building Software (Optional)
Some web hosts provide website building tools so you do not need any additional software.  It's important you find out about this before you sign up with any host.
CoffeeCup & Dreamweaver are popular web editing software programs that people use to create and maintain their sites.
I used Dreamweaver to create this site.
If you don't use any software, then you will need to learn how to code HTML from scratch.  All you do is open a text editor (Notepad or BBEdit for example) and then write the HTML that will create your page. It's pretty easy to learn. 
Then you save the file as filename.html and save it to the Internet through your web host.
If you're not interested in learning HTML, I'd strongly recommend downloading some of my free HTML templates and buying a software program like CoffeeCup to edit and continue building your site.
Nvu and Komposer are two free editors you can download. As you might expect, they do have some limitations (free is not always best) but they can get the job done.

Other Website Features

Want a gaming site?  Looking to create a message forum or chat room for your visitors to communicate?  Maybe you want an online guestbook where people can leave you messages on your site.
This is where it gets a little tricky but don't let it discourage you.  As the Internet matures, it's getting easier and easier to setup these kinds of things on a website.
Any kind of user interactive feature on a website requires some kind of script. A script is nothing but a file that contains a bunch of code that tells the browser how to behave.
Depending on what you want to create for your site, you'll need to go to your favorite search site (Google, for example) and search for the appropriate script (game script, message board script, etc.)  Some are free, some are not-so-free.
Say you want a message board/forum, you can go to http://www.phpbb.com and get a free message board script.  The trick is you have to install it yourself. 
They do provide instructions and it really isn't that difficult but you'll need to get setup with your web host first. 
Most web hosts will help you if you need some guidance and some even provide scripts to their customers for free.  Powweb and Website Palace both do.
Important!  Before you select a web host, make sure they support the kind of script and functionality you want to use.

Making Money from Your Website

More and more people are coming to the web to either make a living or earn a part-time living from a website or blog.
It's certainly possible to make a full-time living online (like me), so if that's the route you're looking for, you've come to the right place.
In fact, I've created an article that talks about the various ways you can make money online.

Outsource The Programming

If you can't seem to find a script or you don't want to learn how to install them you can go to RentaCoder.com and have a programmer do the work for you.  I love this site.
All you do is sign up for an account and post a job.  In a matter of minutes, programmers will begin bidding on your job with a price and you take the bid you want.
It's very safe because you pay the programmers by using PayPal.com and you don't release the money to them until you are satisfied with their work.  You can also check a coder's feedback/history before you select them.  I use them all the time!
You can even have them design your site if you wish.  Just purchase your domain and web hosting and then have one of the coders create a template for you.  They'll even install it for you.
That's website creation in a nutshell.  Now I will suggest you go to  website creation options page to further understand the importance of choosing the right kind of web host before you begin.

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"As blogger, web publisher of my own sites, internet user and marketer, I make little research through web sites of famous web publishers and bloggers, with one simple idea - to find their ways for increasing web traffic on their sites, and, of course, to use some of that ways of increasing web traffic to my own site.

I notice that most of them use good known internet marketing strategy for increasing site visitors. Internet marketing is very big theme to discuss, but I will try to present (as amateur and student of this powerful marketing science) some tips which are most powerful to increase number of visitors to your site.


The list of tips is ordered by priority, by my own perspective (from relevant to irrelevant):

1. Be a good internet citizen. Provide useful articles, resources, links on your website, stuff that make people feel thankful for your time and effort. Help every person who emails you a question or person who ask questions, as comment in your posts.
2. Give free stuff - tools, utils, downloads, write articles about your own knowledge and expertise.
3. Write articles for publication on other websites and forums, exchange ideas or add insightful comments on other articles. Ask for reviews of your articles on other webmasters. This will increase links to your articles.
4. Write articles for your own site regularly. This gives your visitors a reason to come back.
5. Create an RSS feed. Give people way to interact with your content.
6. Add links to your site of people with complimentary sites. Ask them to add link of your site to their site. Your site links, on other sites, means more people clicking through - lead to improving your search engine rankings.
7. Participate in a banner exchange program. Cost nothing, but increase site visitors. Another thing ? this is start for building brand for your website.
8. Build your site to be accessible to all browsers, PocketPC, Palm Pilot, WAP users.
9. Optimize your site (Search Engine Optimization). Find the best keywords or phases for your website, which will present your services, articles and products on search engines.
10. Get listed in search engines. Submit your site to all mayor search engines (Google, Yahoo, HotBot, etc.).
11. Improve link popularity by submitting your site to major web directories. Ex. Link popularity is the most relative factor for Google ranking algorithm.
12. Assign to affiliate marketing programs. This will make you some money if you puts their ads on your website (pay per click, pay per lead, pay per sale, or pay per customer acquired), and the most relevant - Affiliate marketing programs take care of their own community (members) and use ways to improve popularity of their own members (that?s you).
13. Pay for clicks to your website. When people search for keyword or phrases related to your products or services you site will be listed in section with sponsored links. For start, try Google adWords program.
14. Try with e-mail marketing. Find email list and promote your site services and products by sending e-mail messages. In some versions of internet marketing, this can be considered as SPAM. For your protection - add unsubscribe note at the end of your email message. Don?t send emails to the users which replay to your e-mail promotions and ask you to unsubscribe him/her from your list.

I hope that with this article I made a little contribution for better understanding of internet marketing and increasing site traffic. But, as I said, this is my own perspective. If you use some of this tips, please let me know which ones worked best for you, share with me your experience."

I can�t possibly emphasize this message any more than I already do: backing up your files is essential. Period. If you do not ensure that your files are backed-up in a safe, reliable environment, then you are at risk of losing everything. Can you really afford losing those precious family vacation photos, your giant music collection you�ve paid hundreds of dollars for or your dissertation that�s going to get you that degree and secure your future?

Many people chose to backup their files using an external hard drive or other physical medium. That�s fine, just as long as it�s stored off-site, ideally in a fire-proof safe, and that you update this backup regularly. Alternatively, many people prefer to use the internet to ensure the safety of the contents on their hard drive. That�s fine too, just as long as you use a service which isn�t going to let you down.


The aim of this post is to provide you with a list of sites which you will help you find a reliable website upon which you can safely backup your files online - for free.

1) SkyDrive 25GB - Many people argue that Apple easily beats Microsoft when it comes to operating systems, but you�ve got to commend what Microsoft has done for technology. Microsoft has mind-boggling funding behind it, and has been around for years. It�s safe to say it�s not going anywhere anytime soon. Therefore, you can rest assured that your files will be secure, and won�t disappear off the face of the Earth when you backup with SkyDrive. SkyDrive is powered by Windows Live, and owned by Microsoft. If you have a Windows Live account - and if you don�t, you can easily create one, which is completely free - you can obtain 25GB of free web storage. Not only this, it has an easy-to-use interface, and you have the option of making your uploaded files completely private using your Live account, available to who you specify or to the world. Probably the most reliable site of those listed here, and accessible from anywhere.

2) Mozy Free 2GB- Much smaller than what SkyDrive is offering, but some find Mozy more aesthetically-pleasing, more up-to-date and easier to use. Mozy offers 2GB of free backup storage, which should be enough if you�re only wanting to backup your work documents or files, rather than your entire collection. However, you can purchase unlimited backup from the site - for just $5 per month, which is fantastic value. Their security is second-to-none, and they really do mean it when they say they take your privacy seriously. You do get a sense of security and reliability when using Mozy, and the site offers scheduled backups. 

3) ADrive 50GB - Double what Windows Live�s SkyDrive has to offer, but some would prefer SkyDrive because of its standardization and familiar layout. ADrive�s free plans lack support and is supported by advertisements, but they do claim to offer the largest capacity of free storage on the internet, and they are well established. Of course, for a free service offering such a large amount of free storage space, it makes sense to have advertisements to allow the service to continue. ADrive claims to be the leader of online storage, and the service has received many awards and widespread press coverage. It�s a great choice if you want a large capacity, and it�s not very difficult to operate either. Not only this, but you can upload any file type.

4) MediaMax 2GB - With an incredibly interface, this service is a great choice if you want an easy way of transferring your files back and forth and want a professional look. What�s a little bit upsetting, however, is that this site only provides users with 2GB of free storage, so if you know you�re going to be uploading large files, then you�re probably going to be better off using ADrive or SkyDrive. The site does, however, allow you to schedule your backups of certain, important and usually frequently-updated files, and the site keeps 30 of your backups, which means that if you want to go to an earlier version of a file, you can. This is particularly helpful if you have had a fault or error.

5) G.ho.st 15GB - Not hugely known on the internet, but it seems to be rather reliable and offers a cool 15GB of space. G.ho.st itself (and yes, it is a domain hack), is an online operating system, but has the perks of coming with a great opportunity for free storage. G.ho.st actually stands for Global Hosted Operating SysTem, and is quite impressive itself, but that is for a different post. It�s been granted as very secure by Amazon, and has a �lite� version for your mobile phone. Just like transferring files from one folder in your computer to another, I�m rather pleased with this.

6) Google Storage 1GB - Just this month, Google has decided to make its own online storage available to its users who have a Google Account. The layout isn�t fantastic - in fact, it isn�t really a website. I�d say it�s more of a Google feature which has been pushed into the corner of the search giant�s empire. Plus, it only offers 1GB, so you don�t get a ton of space. I suppose the best part about this solution is that you have virtually no chance that your files will just disappear from the internet, and they are considered being very safe, given they are being held by one of the world�s biggest companies. It�s probably the reliability which makes this a decent choice.

Of course, all of these websites offer paid packages which seem to be quite reasonable, and many offer unlimited storage for just $5 a month. Google offers additional storage for $0.25 per GB per year, which is also quite reasonable, and you�ll have the security of being with a big name. Perhaps one of the biggest problems in the online storage market is that there have been a number of cases over the years where a company has started to take a considerable market share of those requiring online backup storage, and then that company closes down. This has resulted in people having to find another source, or in some of the smaller cases, loosing their online files entirely. It�s simply down to which sort of name you work with. For quite obvious reasons, I couldn�t see Microsoft or Google�s online presence going into a void any time soon.

Which free online storage service do you use? Do you have any additions for the list? Have you had any experiences with the services listed in this post? What�s your opinion? Have you had a bad experience with a hard drive crash? Have you lost everything and wished you�d backed up? Let me know, in a comment.

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