How to Make Money From Your Website Earning through Affiliate Programs and Advertisements

1. Advertising Revenue
2. Selling Goods and Services

I shall deal with the second case, "Selling goods and services", in another article. In this article, I will address the issue of how your site can actually make money from advertising.

Making Money From Advertising

If you look at many websites, you will probably notice that there are banner advertisements displayed on most pages. If you are a newcomer to the scene, you might think that you must either be a company or that your site must be famous before you can get advertisers, just as it is the case in hardcopy publications.
In reality, anyone with a website can get advertisers. While it is true that if your site is well-known, you may get companies contacting you to offer to advertise on your site, you can get advertising revenue even if you are just starting out and your site is relatively unknown.
The way to do this is to join as an "affiliate" of various sites, either directly, or through an affiliate network. An affiliate network is simply an intermediary where you can select from a variety of advertisers.

Payment Schemes

Before joining any program, you should probably be aware of the different payment schemes available.

1. Pay Per Impression (CPM)

   Here, you are paid according to the number of times the advertiser's banner is displayed on your site. The amount you earn is typically calculated based on the number of thousand impressions of the banner (impressions = number of times the banner is displayed), often abbreviated CPM (cost per thousand, with the M being the Latin numeral for thousand). That is, $5 CPM means that you get paid $5 for 1,000 displays of the banner. In general, the amount paid is usually small, but it is easy to earn since everytime a visitor loads the page, you earn. This is known as a "high conversion rate". Needless to say, this method will allow you to automatically earn more if your site attracts a lot of visitors.
   

2. Pay Per Click (PPC)

   When you are paid per click, you are only paid when visitors click the advertiser's banner on your site. The amount paid is usually higher than the pay per impression scheme. Whether you get a high conversion rate here depends on the banner (whether it attracts people to click it), although in general, it has a higher conversion rate than the pay per sale method. A high traffic site will probably enjoy a higher click rate than a lower traffic site, although you will probably get better results if your banners are carefully selected to suit the target audience of your site.
   

3. Pay Per Sale or Lead

   While you will probably get the highest payment rates with this method, it has the lowest conversion rate of the three schemes. You will only earn if your visitors click through the banner and either purchase an item from the advertiser or take some other prescribed action (eg, sign up for a service). Like the Pay Per Click method, you get much better results if you carefully select your advertisers to suit the target audience of your site.
   

In general, to avoid wasting resources in issuing cheques for very small amounts, advertisers will usually accrue the amount owing to you until it reaches a certain level (such as $25) before they pay you.

Where to Find Affiliate Programs

You can find a list of affiliate programs and affiliate networks on thefreecountry.com's Affiliate Program page at http://www.thefreecountry.com/webmaster/affiliate.shtml
To join an affiliate network or program, simply go to the site and complete their online application form. Some programs will give you instant approval while others require a human to check out your application before it is approved. Once it is approved, you'll be given some HTML code which you can cut and paste into your web page. Note that some affiliate networks and programs will not accept you unless you have your own domain name. If you are planning to earn from your site, you should seriously consider registering your own domain name.

How To Choose An Affiliate Program

How should you choose an affiliate program? My suggestion is not to choose a program according to the payment scheme, but rather according to the kind of people who are likely to visit your website. For example, if you are targeting parents on your site, links to affiliates with educational software, books and the like may generate more revenue than banners that link to web hosting companies. The most important rule of choosing an affiliate program is to know your target audience.
Another point to consider is whether you really want to join every single affiliate program that comes your way. Some studies suggest that sites that make the most money from affiliate programs are affiliates of only a small handful of programs. Furthermore, concentrating your advertisements from one network may allow you to be paid faster. If you advertise for hundreds of different affiliate networks on your site, you may end up earning only (say) a few dollars per month from each network. If your advertiser's minimum payment amount is higher than what you can earn each month, it may take you a long time before you accrue enough to be paid.
On the other hand, that formula does not necessarily hold true for every site (or every page on your site, for that matter). For example, if your site has a particular theme, and an affiliate network only supports one or two suitable advertisers, you might want to sign up for a few affiliate networks so as to get a greater number of relevant advertisers. After all, advertisements that are relevant to your audience are more likely to be taken up than general advertisements. (What's the point of putting banners from only one affiliate if nobody is going to click them?)

Automated Context-Sensitive Advertising

One of the latest trends in website sponsorship is to sign up with an advertising network like Google AdSenseThe advertising network automatically checks your web page and determines the most relevant advertisement for the page. As a result, without much additional effort from you, you get advertisements targeted at the interests of your visitors. As mentioned earlier, targeted ads tend to result in better performance and returns.

Get Started

Advertising revenue is one of the most effortless way to earn money from your site. You merely have to put the banner there and wait for the money to roll in. (Well, okay, not quite. You will still need to have some visitors first before you can make anything.)
Why wait? If you already have a website, let it earn even while you sleep (literally). Every day you let your site "idle" without advertising is a day of lost opportunity.

What's the Difference Between a Content Management System (CMS), a Blog, a Web Editor and an Online Site Builder?

Incidentally, please note that this page only deals with this particular set of queries. I realise that if you're reading this article, you're probably thinking of starting a website. If so, after reading this answer, you should probably go on to How to Create Your Own Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guide which contains more practical information on how you can actually go about setting up that site.

What are CMS, Online Site Builders, Blogs and Web Editors?

When people create and update websites, they can do it in one of many ways.

• Using a Web Editor or a Text Editor

  One way is to do it the way I do for thesitewizard.com. I write the articles I want to publish on my computer using a type of program called an editor. I then save those articles as web pages, that is to say, I format the articles in a special way so that they can be displayed using a web browser (the program which you're using to read this article). When I'm done, I transfer the article to a special computer on the Internet run by a company called a "web host". Once I do that, the article is "live" on the Internet, and can be read by anyone visiting thesitewizard.com.
  This "editor" program that I mentioned can either be a visual web editor like Dreamweaveror KompoZer, or just a plain text editor like Notepad that comes with Windows. Please read my article What are HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and Perl? Do I Need to Learn Them to Create a Website? for more information about this. (Yes, I know. The title of the article seems irrelevant to what I'm talking about here, but the content explains what a visual web editor is in the course of addressing the question. Don't worry. It's in plain English.)
  In other words, using this method, you run the editor (whether a visual web editor or a plain text editor) on your own computer and create the complete web page on that computer. Only when you're done is the page transferred to your website on the Internet.

• Using a Standalone Site Builder

  Although most people call the programs I mentioned above "web editors", there are some who also refer to such software as "site builders". I suppose they think that since their editors can be used to build websites, they are "website builders". This is particularly so of programs that pattern themselves after desktop publishing software, such as NetObjects Fusionand Serif WebPlus.
  So that I don't get you more confused, let me elaborate a bit, even though I'm going off the track here. In order to make things easier for people to use, web editors either behave the same way as word processors (ie, programs like Microsoft Word) or they act as though they are desktop publishing software(programs that people use to create brochures, newsletters, and other sorts of printed publications). For example, Dreamweaver and KompoZer work a bit like word processors, while NetObjects Fusion and Serif WebPlus work a bit like desktop publishing software. Don't be too worried about the distinction though. Both are just normal web editors that work on your computer and produce web pages. No matter which software you use, you still have to learn how to use it.
  To get back to the topic, such "site builders" are really only web editors under another name. You run them on your computer, and when you finish designing your page, you use them to transfer your files to your actual website. The only reason I put this under a separate point is because of the confusing use of the term "site builder" by some people to refer to these web editors.

• Using an Online Site Builder

  Some web hosts also provide a service which they sometimes advertise as a "site builder". To design your website, you typically have to use your web browser to log into the web host's site and design it directly on their site (using your browser and no other software).
  (A web host is just a company that has computers that are permanently connected to the Internet. When you put your web pages on their computers, everybody on the Internet can view them. For example, thesitewizard.com's web pages are located on one such web host.)
  The difference between using such an online site builder and a standalone web editor is that you don't run any program on your own computer at all. The pages are created directly on the web host's computer and are automatically placed on your site. Each web host has a different site builder, and they all work differently with different pre-made designs available for your use, which you can customise ("customize" if you use a different variant of English) to a greater or smaller extent.
  If you are even considering using such an online site builder, please read the article "Is It Better to Use an Online Site Builder or a Standalone Web Editor?" before doing anything. Every now and then, I get an email from a visitor regretting his/her use of an online site builder for the reasons mentioned in that article.

• Using an Offline/Standalone Site Builder Tied to a Specific Web Host

  Realising that some people like to design their website on their own computer before transferring it to the Internet, some web hosts have an "offline" version of their site builder. You typically have to download the software from their website and install it on your own computer. Using that program, you can design your site and only transfer it to the web host when you're done.
  Such a site builder does not belong to the same class as the general purpose web editor that I mentioned earlier. It is tied to a specific web host, and suffers from the same problems I mentioned in my article on online site builders vs standalone web editors. Not only can you not use the site builder when you move to another web host, there's a chance that you also cannot transfer your web design to a new host as well, since the builder may create designs that use elements owned by your web host.

• Using a Content Management System (CMS)

  A content management system, usually abbreviated as "CMS", is basically just a piece of software that you install on your web host's computer. That is, instead of installing the program on your own computer, the way you do a web editor, you install it directly on your website. You then use your browser to log into your website and use it to add articles, photos, or whatever to your website.
  I have discussed the pros and cons of using a CMS as opposed to a web editor elsewhere, so I will not repeat the points I have already mentioned there. If you're interested, please see that article.
  In one sense, using a CMS has some superficial similarities to using your web host's online site builder, which is probably why the visitor asking me this question was confused. For example, when you use a CMS, you don't need to install any program on your own computer to create and update your website. You just connect to your site with your browser and modify it directly.
  Having said that, there are substantial differences between a CMS and a web host's site builder. Firstly, with a CMS, you control the software, the visual design of your site, and the end product. You're not tied to your web host at all. If you ever have to change hosts, you can bring your entire site, lock, stock and barrel, over to the new web host, much the same way you can when using a standalone web editor. Secondly, a CMS is typically much more than a site builder. You can use it to create an online community (nowadays called a social networking site) with it, with visitors being able to create their own accounts, have their own member pages, and so on.
  On the other hand, CMSes also have their own disadvantages over a web host's site builder. For example, they rarely have the huge range of web design templates that an online site builder has. ("Templates", in this context, are just pre-made web designs that you can use wholesale, or customise, for your site.) However, if you use a CMS platform that is very popular, you can probably find some free template somewhere on the Internet, possibly even directly on the CMS author's own website, that you can adapt. CMSes are also much harder to set up. You have to learn how to do things like transfer files from your computer to your web host's computer, set up a database, and configure the CMS for your site. Once you're through with the initial stages, however, it's probably easier, since you have much greater control over the CMS than an online site builder (since the latter is controlled by your web host). Many popular CMS programs even have add-on modules that extend the functionality of the CMS, so even if the basic CMS package doesn't have everything you want, you can often install one or more of these modules to provide the missing feature.
  Anyway, if you're looking for CMS software, you can find many listed on thefreecountry.com's Free CMS Software page.

• Using a Blogging Software

  Blogging software are (for the most part) a subset of CMS software. That is, they are mostly like the CMS software I mentioned above, except that they have fewer features since they are designed primarily for people who just want to blog (write short articles). Nowadays, though, the feature set of some free blogging softwarehave increased to such an extent that they should probably be considered as fully-fledged CMSes.
  In other words, you typically have to install the software on your web host's computer the same way you do a CMS. All the other advantages and disadvantages of a CMS that I mentioned above apply here as well. Like I said, they're mostly the same thing.
  
  Note that I'm talking about the blogging software here. I'm not talking about the web hosts that let you blog directly from their site, such as those mentioned on the Free Blogging Web Hostspage. That's an entirely different kettle of fish. Such blogging web hosts not only have the disadvantages of a free web host, they may also have the same issues that I mentioned in relation to the online site builders as well. And if you don't use your own domain name for your blog, there's also the problem I discussed in the article Is it Possible to Create a Website Without Buying a Domain Name? The High Price of "Free". Some of the blogging hosts also impose restrictions on what you can do with your blog.

So Which Do I Choose?

Sometimes, the more you learn, the less you feel you know. I'm sure some of you, at this time, probably feel like giving up the idea of starting a website altogether. ("There are just too many things to decide. And so many unknowns!") Don't worry. Everybody feels that way when starting out in a completely new field. It gets easier as you go along. Really.
Anyway, although I will not presume to tell you which method you should use to create your website, let me suggest a few pointers that may help you narrow your choices, and hopefully make the decision more manageable.

• Will you be adding new pages to your website regularly?

  The first question you have to ask yourself is whether you will be frequently adding new pages to your website. Note that I'm not talking about updating the information on an existing page, but adding completely new pages.
  For example, if you want to write daily (or weekly or monthly or whatever interval) articles about things you encounter or experience, you are considered as someone who will be adding new pages to your site on a regular basis.
  On the other hand, if your website is just a site for you to sell your goods, and you keep a fairly fixed inventory of things to sell, chances are that you won't be adding many new pages on a regular basis to your site. Even if you add a new item or two to your online shop, and thus a new page for that item as well, adding new pages is not the norm for your site. In such a case, I consider such a site as being fairly static in nature. That is, after the initial creation of your website, the site remains mostly the same with the rare addition of a new page.
  People with sites that rarely have new pages may want to consider creating the entire thing in a web editor. Since the creation of your website is a one time affair, and adding new pages is so infrequent, in my opinion, using a CMS is a bit of an overkill. For such sites, a web editor allows you to get started with your site far easier than using a CMS, since it's easier to customise the appearance of your site with a web editor than with a CMS (which often requires you to have some technical knowledge). Using a web editor also lets you avoids the overhead of using a lot of resources on your web host which CMSes tend to do.
  That is not to say that people who regularly add new pages to their site need to use a CMS or blogging software. For example, I still use a normal editor to create all the pages on thesitewizard.com, in spite of the fact that I add new pages to the site fairly regularly. All I'm saying is that if you have a site that rarely changes, you may want to consider just using a web editor. The converse is not true. The fact that your site changes frequently doesn't mean that you have to use a CMS. It's not an either-or situation.

• Are you writing a blog?

  If you're writing a blog, the easiest solution is to use a blogging program. While you can of course create all the pages of a blog manually with a web editor, you'll lose all the convenience and features blogging software typically provide. And they really provide a lot of useful features that make it easy for bloggers.
  Although I have written a review comparing some software which I've used before for blogging, namely WordPress vs Drupal vs Expression Engine, at the time I write this article, I think WordPress is probably easiest to use for a blog. The other two are fine for CMSes, but for blogging alone, it's hard to beat WordPress. And the latter's free too. (Yeah, I know. It's not fair of me to compare specialised blogging software against general purpose CMS software in an article talking about blogging. But those were the software I actually used for my old blogs, so they were all I had to compare. And besides, a lot of people use those same software for blogging.)

• Will you be working from a single computer or many different computers?

  If you travel a lot, and are not always able to bring your own computer, using a CMS or blogging software may make it easier for you to maintain your site while away. Since CMS and blogging software are installed on your website itself, you really don't need any special software on the computer you're using to add new pages or make changes to existing pages. All you need is a web browser, and you can log into your site from any computer.
  Of course, whether it's really wise to log into your site while on someone else's computer is another issue altogether. As I'm sure you know, this presents security problems. But I guess not everyone has a choice.

• Do you want total control over the appearance of your website?

  Another thing to consider is that if you use a CMS or blogging software, you may not be able to completely control the appearance of your website. You can do it easily if you know how to code in HTML, CSS and PHP, but otherwise you will probably end up relying on pre-made designs made by others. (If you don't know what I mean by these terms, please see "What is HTML? What is CSS? What is PHP?".)
  Note that these programs do not prevent you from using your own design; far from it. The problem for most newcomers is that to use your own custom-made design, you have to insert some PHP code into selected spots of your page in raw HTML mode. (If that last sentence made sense to you, it's quite possible that you will have no problem with this, and thus can dismiss this point.)
  Having said that, not all CMS software present this hurdle. As I mentioned in WordPress Vs Drupal Vs Expression Engine, the commercial CMS software called Expression Enginedoes not require you to drop into raw HTML mode to insert PHP code. Even then, designing a custom appearance for any CMS is still much harder than just designing a website directly with a web editor for direct publication on the Internet.

• Does your website have multiple authors?

  If your website has multiple authors separately updating and contributing different pages, it may be easier to go with a CMS. Note that when I say multiple authors here, I mean that each person has access to the website and can add new pages to the site (or change existing pages) themselves from their own computers. In such a case, coordination can be a bit of a problem if each one uses their own web editor. It doesn't mean you won't face coordination problems with a CMS of course, but I think it makes things a bit easier.

• Do you want your users to have their own member pages?

  If you want to create a website where visitors can sign up, log into their own account, and create their own web pages on your site, you probably have no choice but to use a CMS. A web editor alone, without the addition of any other software, will not allow a novice webmaster to create such sites. (This is not true of programmers though; if you are one, you can of course use a web editor to create a website with support for member pages. In effect, you'll be creating your own CMS, using the editor.)

• Having a forum doesn't mean that you need a CMS

  I don't want you to go away with the impression that if you want a discussion forumon your website, that you need a CMS. You don't. You can still create the main site with a web editor, and then install specialised forum softwareinto your site, so that your visitors can create their own account and post messages and discuss stuff.
  Of course if your entire website is nothing but a discussion forum, then you don't even need a CMS or web editor. Just install the forum software.

• No one method is easier than the other

  I'm sure that some of you are looking for a method that makes website creation easier than the other. The bad news is that none of them are actually easier when you look at the entire website development process as a whole. The online site builder option seems easier at first glance, but it makes things difficult as you progress, not to mention that it causes grave problems in the long run (as I have discussed elsewhere already). The CMS option seems like it might be easy, but is generally quite hard for newcomers to get started since you have to dive into a lot of technical details at the very start. The web editor option seems difficult at first but it spreads the difficulty across time, and actually becomes easier as you go along.
  I don't recommend that you choose any of the methods based on what you perceive as easy. As a newcomer, since everything is new to you, nothing is "easy" in that nothing can be accomplished without a bit of effort and learning. Having said that, after you learn how to do it, you will probably want to say to me, "Gee, Chris, I thought you implied it was hard". So let me preempt it by telling you that it's not actually hard: it just appears hard for the newcomer because everything is new. Think about it this way: it's like the situation faced by children just starting out in arithmetic, where many of them see division (things like "12 divided by 3") as hard. But once you know it, it's actually easy.

• Other things to consider

  If you have not already read my discussion on The Pros and Cons of Using an Online Blog Software or a Content Management System (CMS), you might want to take a look at it as well, since it has some things may help your decision making.

Of course these things aren't really set in stone. You will want to factor in your own personal preferences and style of working as well, possibly giving priority to those even over the points I mentioned above. There are no fixed rules for such things. Everybody does as he/she sees fit. And you are not stuck with the choices you make now. You can always change your mind, and use something different (say) months down the road if you find you dislike the current way of doing things.
In the end, if you can't decide, just use a web editor. From my experience with teaching newcomers, a web editor provides the least steep learning curve, while giving them greater control over the visual appearance of their site (something most new webmasters rightly expect to have). Changing to another method after learning a web editor, in my opinion, is also easier. You gain a broad base of knowledge (and skills) when using a web editor that continues to be relevant even when using a CMS.

How to Design and Publish Your Website with KompoZer

What You Will NeedYou will need the following for this tutorial.

1. You will need to have KompoZer. You can obtain it free of charge from http://www.kompozer.net/download.php. There are versions of KompoZer for Windows, Macintosh and Linux. Select the appropriate one for your system.
2. You will need a web host to publish your pages to. For the complete beginner, a web host is (loosely speaking) a company which has computers that are permanently connected to the Internet. After you design your web page(s), you will need to transfer your pages to your web host's computer (called a web server), so that the rest of the world can see it. There are numerous web hosts around — you can find a list of cheap web hostson http://www.thefreecountry.com/webhosting/budget1.shtml

There are other things involved in getting your first web site up and running, such as getting your own domain name, creating a search engine friendly website and promoting your web site. This tutorial however does not deal with those issues — it is strictly about designing (creating) and publishing your website using KompoZer. For those who are total beginners, it may be useful to read How to Create / Make a Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guidefor an overview of the entire process of website creation and maintenance.

Overall Goals of this Tutorial

By the end of this tutorial series, you will have created a fully functional website with multiple pages, including a main page, a working feedback form, a Reciprocal Links page, an About Us page, and a Site Map. Your website will contain images, multiple columns, a form, links to other pages within your site, links to other sites, text in different font sizes, and so on.
More importantly, you will know how to use KompoZer to create, design and publish your site so that you can design new sites any time you want.

Goal of this Chapter

In this chapter, you will learn to create a rudimentary web page and publish it so that it can be accessed on the Internet. By the end of this chapter, you will be viewing your web page on the Internet with your favourite web browser.
Note that this is a hands-on tutorial. To benefit from it, in fact, to even understand it, you need to follow the steps as I describe them. The practical nature of this guide makes it difficult to follow or understand if you're not doing the things mentioned.

Installing KompoZer

To install KompoZer, first download the correct file for your system.
If you use Windows, and don't know what to do with the zip file after you have downloaded it, do the following.
Create a new folder on your desktop. Call it "kompozer" (without the quotes). Double-click the zip file you downloaded. A window will open. Drag the files in that window to the folder that you have created earlier. Then go to that new folder, and click the right mouse button on the file kompozer.exe. Click the "Send To" menu item in the menu that pops up. Next, click the "Desktop (create shortcut)" menu item. A shortcut to KompoZer will be placed on your desktop. To run KompoZer, all you have to do is to double-click this shortcut.

If You Can't Find "Kompozer.exe"

If you cannot find any file called "kompozer.exe", it means that Windows is hiding part of the filename from you. Please read (and do the things mentioned in) How to Force Windows Explorer to Always Show You the File Extensions so that you can locate the correct file.

If You Use Windows 95, 98, 98 SE, 2000 or ME

In the unlikely situation that you use a version of Windows earlier than Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, you may need to install one of the free archivers from the Free File Archivers and File Compression Utilities page before you can double-click the zip file to open it. That is, after you install the archiver, just open the "kompozer" folder on your desktop the normal way by double-clicking it. You should now be able to open the folder. Early versions of Windows lacked the ability to open zip files unless you install an archiver that supports it.

Creating A Simple First Web Page

To give you an idea how simple it is to create a web page, first start up KompoZer.
You will be greeted with a window that contains a menu (the top line of the window that says "File Edit View Insert..." etc), a few lines of toolbars (containing buttons like "New", "Open", etc), a left panel with a heading "Site Manager", and a large pane on the right-hand side that has a tab called "Untitled". This large pane is where you will design your web page.
Type the following into the KompoZer. You don't have to do anything special — just start typing. Note that you can type whatever you wish — I'm just furnishing you a block of text as an example. For ease of explanation, though, I will assume that you have typed the text here in the rest of the tutorial. Don't let that stop you from being creative, though.

Shakespeare's Website
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

When you type, you are typing into KompoZer's "Normal" mode. You can see which mode you are using by glancing at the series of tabs at the bottom of the KompoZer window.
To see how your page appears in an actual web browser, click the "Preview" tab to enter KompoZer's "Preview" mode. Return to the "Normal" mode before continuing. I shall assume that you are using the "Normal" mode in this tutorial unless otherwise specified. The "Normal" mode is KompoZer's WYSIWYG editor mode. When you type text in this mode, KompoZer converts it into a HTML web document behind the scenes so that web browsers can recognize it as a web page. If you want to look at the HTML code that is generated from what you just typed, click the "HTML Source" tab at the bottom of KompoZer. Remember to return to the "Normal" mode when you've finished admiring the code.
Now save the page onto your hard disk. Do this by clicking on the "File" menu, then the "Save" item on the menu that appears. A dialog box should appear asking you for the Page Title.
Note: For convenience, in future, I shall refer to this sequence of clicking on the "File" menu, followed by the "Save" item simply as:

File | Save

This means that you are to click on the "File" menu, followed by the "Save" item on the menu that appears. There are shortcuts to saving a file in KompoZer, as there are for the many commands given in this tutorial. I shall, however, leave the discovery of minor things like that to you and concentrate on the main task of creating a web page.
As mentioned earlier, when you use "File | Save", a dialog box will pop up, asking you to give a title to your page. Since this is the main page of your website, you should enter the name of your website here. For example, if you are publishing a personal web page, you might want to name your website "Shakespeare's Website" (without the quotes) if your name happens to be Shakespeare. If you are publishing a company web page, the site name should be your company's name, such as "ABCDEF Company" or the like.
Once you've finished with the title, click the OK button or simply hit the Enter key (or Return key on the Mac).
A new dialog box will appear, prompting you for a filename. Navigate to a directory (ie, folder) on your computer where you want to save your page. Type "index.html" (without the quotes) into the file name part of the dialog box. Do not accept the default name given in the dialog box. Do not use another name. Do not use capital letters in the name (ie, uppercase). Most web hosts expect the main page of your website to be called "index.html". Their computers are configured in such a way so that if you simply type your domain name, like http://www.example.com/, the index.html file will be displayed. If you change the name to some other name, this will not work as expected.
After you've saved the file, you will be returned to KompoZer's main window. Look at the top of the window at the window's title bar. Notice that instead of the words "untitled", the title that you typed in earlier now appears there.

Uploading or Publishing Your First Web Page

Before we proceed to polish the page so that it looks at least half-way decent, we need to publish the page to your web host. One reason we're going to do this now, even before we've finished the page, is that KompoZer needs the information about your actual website's address (or URL) before it can correctly handle things like links and images on your web page. So even though the page is probably an embarrassment to you at this stage, please complete the following steps, or you will encounter problems later.
Don't worry about the page being so plain. If you've not advertised your website's address (URL) to anyone, no one will even know your site exists, so this preliminary version of your page will be seen by no one but you. People will not visit your site out of the blue just because you happened to sign up for a web hosting account today. It's not that easy to get visitors.
Another reason that you're publishing your page at this time is so that you can get familiar with the major stages in the design of a web page. Once you get this hurdle out of the way, and you know how to get your web page from your computer into your web host's computer, you have mastered what is arguably the biggest technical challenge a newcomer is likely to face. Don't let this scare you though — it's actually quite easy!
To publish the page, go to "File | Publish" (ie, the "Publish" item on the "File" menu). A "Publish Page" dialog box will appear asking you for more details.

• "Site Name" is the name that you want to give your website. Use the name that you gave to your website when asked for the title earlier (ie, "Shakespeare's Website" or "XYZ Company" or whatever). This name is only used by KompoZer internally, to refer to your site, but it's probably best to use the real name you ultimately wish to give to your site to minimize any confusion later.
• The "HTTP address of your homepage" field specifies the actual web address (or URL) of your website. If you registered a domain name like "example.com" for your site, enter "http://www.example.com/" into this box. This field is required because KompoZer will use this information to form links on your site. Be sure to enter the "http://" prefix as well.
• "Publishing server" is a bit more complicated to explain. When you signed up for your web hosting account from a commercial web host, you would have been given a whole bunch of details by your web host. Among these is something known as your "FTP address". FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is the usual means by which you transfer your web pages from your own computer to your web host's computer. Transferring your pages from your computer to your web host's computer is known as "publishing" or "uploading" your pages.
  For the purpose of this tutorial, I will assume that your web host told you that your FTP address is "ftp.example.com". You should substitute your real FTP address everytime you see "ftp.example.com" in the examples below.
  Before you enter that address though, you will need to know which directory (or folder) you need to put your web pages. Some web hosts require you to put your web pages in a directory named "www". Others require you to put it in a "public_html" directory. Still others say that you are to put your web pages into the default directory that you see when you connect by FTP. And so on. Find out the directory where you're supposed to upload your web pages to.
  Once you've got all the details, you're ready to form the address you have to enter into the "Publishing address" field.
  If your FTP address is "ftp.example.com", and the directory that you're supposed to upload to is "www", enter "ftp://ftp.example.com/www" here. Notice that you have prefixed "ftp://" to your FTP address ("ftp.example.com"), added a slash ("/") and followed it with your web directory name ("www"). If your web host tells you to simply upload it to the directory you are logged into when you connect by FTP, then just enter "ftp://ftp.example.com" here.
  
• The "User name" and "Password" fields in the dialog box refers to user name (or login name) and password that your web host assigned to you. It is needed so that KompoZer can connect to your FTP account and upload (publish) your pages.

When you've finished completing the information, click the "Publish" button. KompoZer will proceed to connect to your FTP account on your web host and upload your pages. There will be a dialog box that pops up to tell you it is uploading your page. The box will automatically disappear when KompoZer has completed its task.
If you get an error message from KompoZer, look through the guide above again and recheck all your settings. Most of the problems at this stage are caused by one of the settings not being correctly entered. If you have eliminated all possible errors in your settings and still get an "Unknown publishing error", check my FAQ on this.

Testing the Web Page

Before you proceed further, you need to test the web page you have uploaded. This way, you will know whether you've made any mistake when entering your details earlier.
Start up your browser. Type the URL (web address) of your website. This is the address that you typed into the "HTTP address" field earlier. For example, type "http://www.example.com" if that is your URL.
If you've entered the "publishing server" earlier correctly, you should see the page you created earlier in your web browser.
If you get an error like "No DNS for www.example.com" or "Domain not found", it probably means that your domain name has not yet propagated to your ISP. Put simply, this means that you probably only just bought your domain name. It takes time for a new domain name to be recognized across the world (usually 2 or more days), so it's possible that your ISP has not yet updated its name servers to recognize your new domain. Some web hosts give you a temporary address which you can use to access your website in meantime. If you have that, use the temporary address to check that your site has been uploaded properly. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait.
If you get an error like "404 File Not Found" or you get your web host's preinstalled default page, you may need to go back and check your "publishing server" field. You may have published your page to a location that is not recognized by the web server as the default page to show when only your domain name is entered.
You can change the settings that you have just entered by accessing the "Edit | Publishing Site Settings" menu. Then click the name of your website in the left pane, under "Publishing sites". One possibility for the page not showing is that you did not specify the correct directory on your web site to publish your index.html page to. A more remote possibility is that your web host requires that your page be named something other than "index.html". This is very rare nowadays, so explore this last possibility only when you've ruled out all others. At worse, ask your web host's support department or check their documentation for help.
If what you see is your domain parking page created by default when you first bought your domain name, it may mean that you forgot to point your domain name to your web hosting account. I strongly recommend that you go back and follow the steps given the How to Start / Make a Website in addition to following this tutorial. As mentioned before, there's more to creating a website than just using a web editor.
If you get no errors at all, but see the page that you've designed earlier, congratulations! You've created and uploaded your first web page. It may be a rudimentary page but you have successfully walked through all the essential stages of designing and uploading a web page.

Next Chapter: Polishing Your Web Page

In the next chapter, you'll learn how you can improve that rudimentary web page by adding pictures, making font changes, etc.
Next: KompoZer Tutorial Chapter 2: Adding Images, Changing Fonts, Changing Colours, Creating a Navigation Bar, Writing Your Content.
Copyright 2003-2009 by Christopher Heng. All rights reserved.
Get more free tips and articles like this, on web design, promotion, revenue and scripting, from http://www.thesitewizard.com/.

thesitewizard.com's KompoZer Series

• KompoZer Tutorial 1: How to Design and Publish Your Website with KompoZer
• KompoZer Tutorial 2: How to Add Images, Change Fonts and Colours, Create Links, and Write Your Content in KompoZer (Tutorial)
• KompoZer Tutorial 3: How to Create Data Tables in KompoZer
• KompoZer Tutorial 4: How to Create a Multiple Column Layout for your Web Page in KompoZer
• KompoZer Tutorial 5: How to Add a Feedback Form to Your Website Using KompoZer
• How to Insert Raw HTML Code in KompoZer
• More Kompozer Tutorials

How to Create a Search Engine Friendly Website

1. Add Text to Your Images, Flash and Videos

   The first thing you should note about search engines is that their software can only read text. When I say text, I don't mean text that you embed in an image or text that you place inside a Flash file or those that appear in a video. I mean text like the text you see everywhere on thesitewizard.com's articles - plain, unadulterated, ordinary text.
   While it's true that some search engines have the rudimentary ability to scan a Flash file, you cannot assume that this ability is sophisticated enough to obtain all the information you want them to have. In fact, I suspect that only Google can do this, and even then only to extract straightforward links embedded in the file. And certainly no search engine I know can view an image file or video and determine the text that it contains.
   This is not to say that you cannot create a photo-album site, Flash game site or a video site that ranks in the search engine results page. You can still place your pictures, Flash, videos on your site. However, you should write content for each of these non-text elements to describe them.
   For example, you should describe each picture in the "alt" text for the image. For those who don't know what I'm saying, images are put into a web page using HTML code like the following:
   
   <img src="name-of-image.jpg" alt="Picture of a search engine ready website">
   Notice the "alt" part in the example HTML code above. Here, I described the image as a picture of a search engine ready website. You should of course replace that text with a brief description of what your image really shows. While search engines cannot actually see your picture, they can read your "alt" text and will include that in their index for your web page.
   Likewise, for sites with video files or Flash file, you should include additional text on that web page describing what your video shows or what the Flash file does.
   To put it another way, when designing your website, make your website more accessible for blind and other visually impaired visitors and you will also reap the side benefit of making your site more search-engine friendly.
   

2. Validate Your HTML Code

   I have written elsewhere on the importance of validating your web page. By validating, I mean checking to make sure that your HTML code does not have errors. Note that I'm not talking about spelling or grammar errors here. I'm referring to the underlying HTML code that allows the web browser to format your web page according to how you want it to appear. If you use a WYSIWYG web editor like Dreamweaver, Nvu or KompoZer, such code is usually generated behind the scenes by the editor as you type your text.
   Whether you write your HTML code by hand or use a WYSIWYG web editor, it is a good idea to always run the final code through HTML and CSS validators. You can find details on how you can do this in my article on HTML validation at http://www.thesitewizard.com/webdesign/htmlvalidation.shtml
   While the search engines don't care whether your HTML code is error-free, they rely on the basic correctness of the code to find out which portions of your web page to index. If your HTML code contains errors, it is possible that only portions of your web page are included in the search engine's database. The errors, while undetectable in a web browser, may lead the search engine software to think that some of the text on your page is part of the HTML formatting information rather than your site's content. As a result, the search engine may ignore that text, and your web page will not be shown in its results page.
   

3. Create Relevant Title Tags

   Many search engines give additional weightage to the text appearing in the HTML <TITLE> tag for your page. Note that this is not the title that you see in the body of your web page. Rather, it is the non-visible text in the HTML code that the browser uses to display in the title bar of the browser window. The search engines use that tag as part of its algorithm to determine what your page is about.
   A number of new webmasters don't bother to set the title tag to something meaningful. Instead, they just put their site name in the title tag of every page on their website. They should, instead, put the site name only in the title tag of their home page, and place a meaningful title on each individual page of their site. For example, on a page that describes a product "Widget XYZ", the title tag should read "Widget XYZ Product Features" or something like that. If you feel that the name of your website is important to have on every title tag, place it at the end of your title for the sub-pages on your site, for example, "Widget XYZ Features - XYZ Company".
   

4. Use Straight HTML Navigation Links on Your Website

   I wrote an article some time back on the importance of a good navigation system for your website and how one website I examined used only JavaScript-generated links to lead to other pages on the site. Since the search engines do not understand JavaScript, they were not able to find the other pages on the website.
   While that article only mentioned JavaScript-created links, this problem also applies to websites that rely only on links embedded in Flash files. Google is said to understand such links, but until search engine robot technology improves so that all search engines can easily figure out the links embedded in Flash files or JavaScript code, any website totally reliant on such links is surely at a disadvantage compared to websites that use straightforward HTML links.
   Again, this is not a call to throw out the baby with the bathwater. You do not have to ditch all JavaScript code or Flash files from your website. Instead, what you need is to provide a way for search engines (and visitors who do not have JavaScript-enabled or Flash players) to visit all the pages of your site. Put simple HTML links on your web page linking to the other pages in addition to your state-of-the-art gadgets.
   You should also add a site map to your website and link to that site map from your main page. That way, search engines and human visitors who don't have JavaScript or Flash facilities can find their way around your site.
   

5. Eliminate Apparent Content Duplication

   If you use a blogging service, blogging software or some other content management system (CMS), you will need to watch out for duplicate content on your website.
   By duplicate content, I mean pages on your website that are identical to other pages on your site. If you manually create your website using a web editor, this will probably never happen. However, some of the automated services mentioned earlier create alternate routes to the same article. For example, a content management system or blogging software may duplicate the same article you wrote under two different URLs, such as www.example.com/archive/article-name.html and www.example.com/2007/01/05/article-name.html. Another manifestation of this is when your software adds a session id to the URL. Since every visitor receives a different session ID, he/she will link to your page using a different URL.
   The problem with duplicate content on your own site is link dilution. As I mentioned in my article on How to Improve Your Search Engine Ranking on Google, Google and other search engines take into account the number of links pointing to your page to determine how important your web page is. If you have identical content appearing on two different pages on your website, some sites will link to one page while others will link to the alternate page. The result is that neither of those pages will be regarded as very important in the search engine's index since you have effectively halved the links pointing to your article.
   Find a way to remove that feature in your software or service of allowing your article to be reached under different URLs. In the case of session IDs, see if you can use cookies instead to track individual users. Solutions like blocking out alternative URLs from search engines using a robots.txt file may seem like a possible solution, but they do not solve the problem of link dilution.
   You may also want to read How to Solve Duplicate Content Issues by Specifying a Canonical Web Address (URL) for additional help on this if you face this problem.
   

6. Remove Hidden Text

   Nowadays, everyone knows that it is counterproductive to use hidden text on your website. By hidden text, I mean text that is included in the main body of your web page but is not actually displayed on the screen when visitors view your page in a browser. In days of old, some unscrupulous webmasters used such text to add keywords to a web page to influence search engine results. Search engines try to deal with that tactic by not showing pages which they think contain hidden text.
   As mentioned in another article, More Tips on Google Search Engine Results Placement, I inadvertently discovered that sometimes search engines wrongly penalize sites even if the hidden text was innocuous - for example, text that only showed for people using a particular browser to tell them that they may not be able to access certain features of the website due to deficiencies in the browser. If you have not read that article, you might want to take take a look to avoid facing the same problem.
   You should also be aware that if you use a free web host, your site may contain hidden text on its pages without your knowing. In my investigation of some free web hosts for thefreecountry.com's many free web hosting pages, I discovered that a few of the hosts that place advertisements on your websites include hidden text around the advertisements to influence the type of advertisements shown on your web page. This may lead to your website being penalised by the search engines through no fault of your own.
   Unfortunately, you cannot simply look for a free web host that does not impose ads on your website, since such web hosts regularly disappear overnight due to the lack of a viable revenue model to sustain their service. If you can afford it, the best solution is to get a domain name and place your site on a commercial web host.
   

Creating a search engine friendly website does not necessarily mean that you will get top listing for a particular keyword or keyword phrase. It is however a necessary first step if you want to rank anywhere near the first few pages of the search engine results. A site that is not search engine ready may not even appear in the results for any query. The tips in this article are the pre-requisites for any website aspiring the top positions in Google, Yahoo, and the other engines.

How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Website?

I often get questions from webmasters-to-be about how much it might cost to set up a website. This article provides a basic cost breakdown, arranged according to categories.

The Basic Idea

Since those asking this question are obviously people who have not yet started a website, I should mention that this article follows How to Make / Create Your Own Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guide closely. You should consult that guide for more details so that you will have a clearer idea of what is involved in creating a site.

Cost Breakdown for Setting Up a Website

Since prices of the various components change from time to time, I have linked to the pages providing the prices in addition to mentioning a general figure here. You should always follow the links to the vendors' sites to get the latest up-to-date prices, since the ballpark figure I list here may no longer be accurate by the time you read this. Prices are stated in US dollars.

1. Domain Name

   A basic "must" in creating a website is buying your own domain name. There is simply no substitute. The prices for domains vary from registrar to registrar, and are (at the time I wrote this article) around $10 or so per year. You can find the exact price of a domain for some popular registrars in the article How to Register Your Own Domain Nameat http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/registerdomain.shtml
   Because a domain name is a necessity for the health and longevity of your website, this price must always be factored into your budget when planning a website. Almost everything else can have substitutes if you have no money, but my rule-of-thumb is to never start a website without a domain name. Websites that don't have their own domain name have to use their web host's subdomain name (eg, your-site-name.example.com where the web host's name is example.com). Such sites are totally at the mercy of that web host. When the latter closes, your site is gone. If the host suddenly decides to charge you an exorbitant price for hosting your site, you will have no choice but to comply.

2. Web Hosting

   If you want to use a commercial web host, you will need to factor in the cost of web hosting as well. This is a monthly fee that you have to pay to the web host. Some hosts also offer discounts if you pay a year (or more) in advance. Prices vary from web host to web host but are usually (at the time I wrote this article) around $10 per month if your website is new and doesn't have much traffic or data. You can find the real prices charged by a number of web hosts on the Budget Web Hosting page. As your website gets more traffic, or if you need to put a lot of big files on your website, you may have to upgrade your site to one of the web host's higher-priced plans.
   Those who are not earning an income (for example, students) and are merely creating personal websites or hobby sites that will not earn any money can also consider using a free web host that provides free domain hosting. Such web hosts will allow you to host your domain with them without charging you any hosting fees. In exchange, most of them will also place advertisements on your website to recoup their costs of hosting your site. (There may also be other limits, but as they say, beggars can't be choosers.)
   Note, though, that hosting with a free web host is a risky proposition. The free web hosts I have tested have frequent "down" times, times during which your site is inaccessible. One of them had a server that was down for nearly two months during December last year to January this year, the peak business period for many websites. Needless to say, when your site is down, you will receive no visitors nor make any money. If you run a web-based business or are earning from your website through advertisements, you should not use a free web host.
   In addition, as mentioned in my article, All Those Disappearing Free Web Hosts, free web hosts come and go with alarming frequency. Don't believe their promises that they will last a long time -- many of the free web hosts that I have investigated in the past have promised to be around forever because of their deep pockets, corporate funding, long term planning, blah blah blah. In spite of that, they are now extinct. Some have closed shop, while others have started to charge for their services because they found that their financial situations have changed. If you host on a free web host, make sure you have your own domain name, so that you can easily change web hosts when it closes.

3. Software

   The exact software you need for your site depends on the type of website you want to set up.
   If you are running a blog, you will probably do fine using only free software, such as the ones found on the Free PHP Blogging Software page.
   Blogging aside, those of you who intend to manage your website directly from a web browser (without using a web editor) will probably want a type of software called a Content Management System, or "CMS". Despite its intimidating name, a CMS is just a computer program that you install on your website itself. It lets you create web pages, modify its appearance, and otherwise control your website simply by using your browser. There are many free CMS scripts (ie programs) around, so if you choose this route, you probably don't need to spend money on such a program (unless you decide to buy a commercial one instead).
   Whether you use blogging or CMS software, you will need an FTP client, a program that allows you to transfer files from your own computer to your web host's computer. Again, there are many free FTP programs available (as well as commercial ones). Naturally, if you use a free FTP program, it won't cost you a cent.
   For those who don't want the overhead of a CMS or blogging software, using an ordinary web editoris the way to go. If you have the money, Dreamweavercomes highly recommended by many (if not most) professional webmasters. The software is expensive ($399 the last time I checked), but it's a one-time cost, and the productivity gain from using it (as compared to using the free tools) is tremendous. Otherwise, you can use free software like KompoZer or Nvu. While the free web editors have certain limitations (and unfixed bugs), they are nonetheless sufficiently functional for you to create simple websites.
   If you are making your own graphics for your website, you will probably need a program for designing and editing pictures too. At the very least, you will probably want to create a logo for your site. This can be done using free image editing programs or commercial tools like the famous Photoshop. A free tool will probably be more than sufficient for those creating the one-off image (like a site logo) for their websites. On the other hand, if graphic design is your forte, and you see yourself repeatedly creating graphics, or editing photos, then Photoshop may make your life easier in the long run. Photoshop was $649 the last time I checked.
   (On a related note, if you're buying both Dreamweaver and Photoshop, it may be more cost effective to get the Adobe Web Premium Suitebundle which includes Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash, Acrobat, and other stuff. I didn't, and ended up paying more when I bought those programs piecemeal over a period of time.)

4. Advertising (Optional Expenditure)

   If you are selling goods or services on your site, you may also want to set some money aside for advertising. There are many ways to advertise your site, such as in newspapers, magazines, TV, as well as over the web. Since the cost for ads in the traditional media varies from country to country, you will have to do your own research.
   Advertisements on the web can take many forms. For example, you can advertise on individual websites that attract an audience that you think may be interested in your products. This is done by contacting the webmaster of that website and asking them if they're interested in advertising your site, and finding out their rates. Since rates vary from site to site, it's not possible for me to give you an estimate here. Alternatively, you can also sign up as an advertiser in one of the many affiliate networks around. Such networks work like a sort of middle man between you and the other websites on the Internet that display your advertisements. Generally speaking, they allow you to advertise on other sites without your having to manually search for relevant websites yourself.

As mentioned above, if you are on a shoestring budget, you can mostly get by with just buying a domain name, and making do with free stuff for the rest. Your site may be inaccessible from time to time, and you may have to fight your web editor to get it to work the way you want, but for simple personal sites that are not selling anything and don't have to be always available, this shouldn't pose a substantial problem. Commercial sites, on the other hand, should not be penny wise and pound foolish.

How to Start / Create Your Own Website: The Beginner's A-Z Guide

This tutorial shows you how to make or create a website. It is intended for the beginner and layperson, taking you step by step through the whole process from the very beginning. It makes very few assumptions about what you know (other than the fact that you know how to surf the Internet, since you're already reading this article on the Internet). As some steps are more involved, this guide also links to selected relevant articles on thesitewizard.com that you will need to click through to read for more information.

The Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Own Website

1. Get Your Domain Name

   The first thing you need to do before anything else is to get yourself a domain name. A domain name is the name you want to give to your website. For example, the domain name of the website you're reading is "thesitewizard.com". To get a domain name, you have to pay an annual fee to a registrar for the right to use that name. Getting a name does not get you a website or anything like that. It's just a name. It's sort of like registering a business name in the brick-and-mortar world; having that business name does not mean that you also have the shop premises to go with the name.
   
   • Detailed information on getting a good domain name can be found in the article Tips on Choosing a Good Domain Name.
   • After you read that, you will need to know the steps to registering a domain name and the things you need to look out for when registering. You can find a detailed guide in the article How to Register Your Own Domain Name.
   • It may also be wise to take a look at some of the Important Precautions to Take When Buying a Domain Name, just so that you don't commit the same mistakes that some newcomers make when buying a domain name.

2. Choose a Web Host and Sign Up for an Account

   A web host is basically a company that has many computers connected to the Internet. When you place your web pages on their computers, everyone in the world will be able to connect to it and view them. You will need to sign up for an account with a web host so that your website has a home. If getting a domain name is analogous to getting a business name in the brick-and-mortar world, getting a web hosting account is analogous to renting office or shop premises for your business.
   
   • There are many issues involved in finding a good web host. Read up on the various things you need to look for in searching for a good web host in the article How to Choose a Web Host.
   • After you have an idea of what to look for, you can search for one from the Budget Web Hosting page. You can also find out which web host I'm currently using from the Which Web Host Do You Recommend? page.
   After you sign up for a web hosting account, you will need to point your domain to that account on your web host. Information on how to do this can be found in the guide How to Point a Domain Name to Your Website (Or What to Do After Buying Your Domain Name).
   

3. Designing your Web Pages

   Once you have settled your domain name and web host, the next step is to design the web site itself. In this article, I will assume that you will be doing this yourself. If you are hiring a web designer to do it for you, you can probably skip this step, since that person will handle it on your behalf.
   
   • Although there are many considerations in web design, as a beginner, your first step is to actually get something out onto the web. The fine-tuning can come after you've figured out how to get a basic web page onto your site. One way is to use a WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get") web editor to do it. Such editors allow you to design your site visually, without having to muck around with the technical details. They work just like a normal wordprocessor.
     There are many commercial and free web editors around. For those who don't mind spending money on a good commercial web editor, one of the most highly-regarded WYSIWYG web editors is Dreamweaver. If you are planning to use this editor, thesitewizard.com has an online tutorial on Dreamweaver CS5.5 Tutorial: How to Design a Website with Dreamweaver CS5.5. The tutorial takes you through all the steps of creating a fully-functional website with multiple pages and a feedback form, and provides you with the theoretical and practical foundation that will help you create and maintain your site.
     If you prefer to use free software, you can find a complete tutorial on using KompoZer, a free WYSIWYG web editor, in the article How to Design and Publish Your Website with KompoZer. Like my Dreamweaver tutorial, this one also guides you through the process of creating a website that has a home page, an about page, a site map, a links page and a feedback form. It also shows you some of the main features of the KompoZer software so that you can go on improving and updating your website on your own.
     There are many other web design software around. If you prefer not to use either of the above, you can find some others listed on thefreecountry.com's Free HTML Editors and WYSIWYG Web Editors page. I also have tutorials for a few other WYSIWYG web editorson this site.
     
   • After you have followed my tutorial, and are on the way to designing your website, you might want to read the article Appearance, Usability and Search Engine Visibility in Web Designas well. The article takes a brief look at some of the real world issues that every web designer must deal with.
   • An integral part of web design is search engine readiness. Search engine promotion does not start after the web site is made. It starts at the web design stage. The article 6 Tips on How to Create a Search Engine Friendly Website is a must-read. My article on How to Improve Your Search Engine Ranking on Google is also important for the simple reason that Google is the most popular search engine around, at least at the time this article was written.
   • There are many other issues regarding the design of web pages. The above will get you started. However, if you have the time after you get something out onto the web, you may want to read my other articles on Web Design and Website Promotion and Search Engine Ranking.

4. Testing Your Website

   Although I list this step separately, this should be done throughout your web design cycle. I list it separately to give it a little more prominence, since too few new webmasters actually perform this step adequately.
   You will need to test your web pages as you design them in the major browsers: the latest versions of Internet Explorer (version 9 at the time of this writing), Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome. All these browsers can be obtained free of charge, so it should be no hardship to get them. Unfortunately, directly testing your site in all these browsers is the only way you can really be sure that it works the way you want it to on your visitors' machines.
   
   Optional: If you have the time, you may want to read my article on how to test your website in multiple versions of Internet Explorer and check your site under earlier versions of Internet Explorer ("IE"), namely IE 8, IE 7, and IE 6. This is not strictly necessary nowadays, since the main culprit causing website problems, IE 6, is slowly disappearing from the Internet, with IE 7 following in its heels.
   If you want to improve the chances that your website will work in future versions of all web browsers, consider validating the code for your web pages. In layman's language, this means that you should check that the underlying code of your web page, called "HTML" and "CSS", have no syntax errors. You don't actually need technical knowledge of HTML and CSS to validate the page, since you can use one of the numerous free web page validators around to do the hard work. On the other hand, if the validator tells you that your page has errors, it may sometimes be hard to figure out what's wrong (and whether the error is actually a serious one) if you don't have the requisite knowledge. Having said that, some validators actually give concrete suggestions on how to fix your code, and one of them, called "HTML Tidy", is even supposed to be able to fix your code for you.

5. Collecting Credit Card Information, Making Money

   If you are selling products or services, you will need some way to collect credit card information. You should read up on How to Accept Credit Cards on Your Website. I also have a step by step guide on How to Add an Order Form or a "Buy Now" button using PayPal to a Website for those using PayPal.
   If you need advertisers for your website, you might want to read How to Make Money From Your Website and the follow-up article How to Increase Your Website Revenue from Affiliate Programs. A list of advertisers and affiliate programs can be found on Affiliate Programs: Free Sponsors and Advertisers. Those companies are on the constant lookout for new web publishers to display their advertisements.
   

6. Getting Your Site Noticed

   When your site is ready, you will need to submit it to search engines like Google and Bing. You can use the links below to do this.
   
   • Google's Link Submission Page
   • Bing's Site Submission Page
   In general, if your site is already linked to by other websites, you may not even need to submit it to these search engines. They will probably find it themselves by following the links on those websites.
   Apart from submitting your site to the search engine, you may also want to consider promoting it in other ways, such as the usual way people did things before the creation of the Internet: advertisements in the newspapers, word-of-mouth, etc. There are even companies on the Internet, like PRWeb, that can help you create press releases, which may get your site noticed by news sites and blogs.As mentioned in my article on More Tips on Google Search Engine Results Placement, you can also advertise in the various search engines. Although I only mentioned Google in that article, since that was the topic of that discussion, you can also advertise in other search engines like Bing and Yahoo!.This has the potential of putting your advertisement near the top of the search engine results page, and possibly even on other websites.
   There are also less obvious ways of promoting your website, which you might want to look into

How to Register Your Own Domain Name

If you have a web site, you should seriously consider registering your own domain name. A domain name is a name like "thesitewizard.com" or "thefreecountry.com", which you can use to refer to your website. Note that you do not have to be a company or organisation ("organization" in US English) to register a domain name. Any individual can do it too.

Importance of a Domain Name

There are a number of good reasons for having a domain name:

• If you ever change your web host, your domain name goes with you. Your regular visitors or customers who knew your site name as www.thesitewizard.com (for example) would not have to be informed about a change of web address (also known as "URL"). They would simply type your domain name and they'd be brought to your new site.
• If you are a business, a domain name gives you credibility. Few people will be willing to do business with a company that does not have its own domain name.
• If you get a domain name that describes your company's business or name, people can remember the name easily and can return to your site without having to consult their documents. In fact, if you get a good name that describes your product or service, you might even get people who were trying their luck by typing "www.yourproductname.com" in their browser.
• If you want good sponsors (advertisers) for your website, a domain name is usually helpful. It tends to give your website an aura of respectibility.

Registration Overview

Getting a domain name involves registering the name you want with an organisation called ICANN through a domain name registrar. For example, if you choose a name like "example.com", you will have to go to a registrar, pay a registration fee that costs around US$10 to US$35 for that name. That will give you the right to the name for a year, and you will have to renew it annually for (usually) the same amount per annum.
Some web hosts will register it and pay for the name for free (usually only the commercial web hosts), while others will do it for you but you'll have to foot the registrar fees.
My personal preference is to register the name directly with a domain name registrar rather than through my web host. I've heard stories, in the past, of less-than-reputable web hosts that registered the domain under their own name, making them the owner of the domain rather than you (although I don't know if such web hosts still exist today). Registering with a domain name registrar allows me to make sure that I am registered as the owner, the administrative and technical contacts. Being the owner is vital — if someone else places himself as the owner (such as your web host), he can always decide to charge you some exorbitant fee for the use of the name later, and there is little you can do. The various other contacts are less vital, but may still play important roles, depending on your registrar. For example, for some registrars, the administrative contact's approval is required before a domain name is transferred out of a web host (or at least, it used to be). If he/she cannot be contacted, the technical contact is used.
Domain names disappear extremely fast. Many people claim that all the good domain names are gone. I doubt that — but it is probably true that most good domain names that are descriptive of products and services have been taken. If you want a domain name for your site, I suggest you act now, or face the anguish of having lost that name later. After all, US$10 (more or less) for a year's ownership of the name is pretty cheap when you realise that you're cornering a good name for your website.

Step By Step Instructions

If you want to register a domain name, here's what you need to do. Please read it all before acting.

• Think of a few good domain names that you'd like to use. It won't do to think of only one — it might already be taken (it probably is!). You can find some tips on choosing a good domain name from my article, Tips on Choosing a Domain Name, at http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/domainname.shtml
  There's more to it than meets the eye.
• You will need either a credit card or a PayPal account to pay for the domain. This is a requirement of most if not all registrars. It will allow you to claim and get the domain name immediately on application. This is not an option (unfortunately).
• If you already have a web host, obtain from them the names of their primary and secondary nameservers. Don't worry if you don't understand what these things mean. Just save the information somewhere. The information can usually be obtained from their FAQs or other documentation on their site, usually under a category like "domain name" or "DNS" or "domain name transfer" and the like. If you can't find it, email them. You'll need the information to point your domain name to your website after you buy your domain. Don't worry if you don't have a web host yet. Just read on.
• If you do not have a web host, you can always allow the registrar to you to park your domain nameat a temporary website specially set up for you. This way you can quickly secure your domain name before it's too late and still take your time to set up the other aspects of your site. As far as I can tell, most registrars (or probably all) automatically park your domain by default whether you ask them to or not, so if this is your situation, you probably don't have to do anything special to get it done. Some of those registrars also provide you with a free email address at your own domain name while it is parked at their site, like sales@example.com (where "example.com" is your domain).

List of Domain Name Registrars

There are numerous domain name registrars. Listed below are just a few, along with my comments, if I know anything about them. Note that the domain name industry is highly competitive, with prices wildly fluctuating throughout the year, every year, so it's impossible to really mention accurate prices below unless I spend all my time updating this page. Please check their sites for the latest rates. (Note: all prices are in US dollars.)

• World's Largest Registrar - GoDaddy.com— This extremely popular registrar (possibly the biggest today) offers .com domain names for $9.99 (plus 20 cents) per year ($6.99 plus 20 cents if you transfer from another registrar). They have a web interface to manage your domains, free web redirection (where people who visit your domain will get transferred to another web address of your choice), free starter web page, free parked page or free "for sale" page, and an optional private domain registration where your domain is registered in the name of a proxy company. They offer .com, .us, .biz, .info, .net, .org, .ws, .name, .tv, .co.uk, .me.uk and .org.uk. Note that (as with all registrars) the exact price varies depending on which domain you are registering (for example some domain extensions are more expensive than others). Both credit card and PayPal payments are accepted.
• Dotster.com— This fairly popular registrar provides fairly cheap domain prices ($15.75 plus 20 cents per domain), a convenient web interface to manage your domains, an optional privacy facility where your domain name is registered in the name of a proxy company, etc. They offer .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, .ca, .tv, .name, .cc, .de, .sr, .md, .co.uk, .us.com domains, etc. If you're transferring a domain here from other registrars, the price is even cheaper ($6.99 plus 20 cents). Both credit card and PayPal payments are accepted here.
• Register.com— This domain name registrar has been in business for a very long time: they were one of the biggest around when I started buying my first domains. They are currently running an offer (only via the above link) where they charge $9.99 for the first year for a domain name with a free business email account. Domains qualifying for this offer include .com, .net, .org, .biz, .us and .info. Country-specific domains have different prices. (Note: you'll need to use the above link to get the $9.99 special offer. If you access their site in some other way, you may end up with their regular price of around $37, depending on the number of years you register.)
• 1&1 Internet— This is primarily a large web host that is also a domain name registrar. You are charged $6.99 for .com, .org, .net, .us domains. They also offer .info domains for $0.99 (first year only) and .biz at $8.99. The fee includes private domain registration, which means that your particulars are hidden from public view (done by registering the domain in the name of a proxy company). You also get a free email account, DNS management, domain forwarding and masking, and a starter website with each domain. Both credit card and PayPal payments are accepted by this registrar.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, a number of commercial web hosts will give you a free domain name if you are hosting with them, as will many (if not all) of the registrars above.