Do You Wish You Could Make a Web Site?

Getting into the global marketplace is easier now than ever before. The Internet allows you to tap that marketplace from your living room. But what if you don’t know how to make a Web site?

The world is changing in other ways too. No longer do we expect to get a 9-5 job that lasts many years. In fact, short-term contract jobs without benefits are becoming more and more common. This uncertainty might cause you to consider starting a small business in your spare time. If you get the knack, you may even be able to make enough money to make it your sole income.

There’s a hurdle first: you don’t know how to make a Web site. You may think a Web site costs a lot. So you haven’t done anything.

Novices can get plenty of help creating a Web site. Many people are in business to help novices set up a Web site using a template. There’s a problem with the result, though–you don’t know enough HTML to add affiliate links, shopping carts, or clickable ads, the items that will earn your Web site money. What you really need to learn is a bit of HTML, just enough to get the job done.

So how can you learn HTML? There are tutorials on the Internet, and books on the subject. Here’s a tip: you don’t need to learn a lot of HTML! You just need to know a little to be able to modify your Web site for links and shopping carts. And we’ll let you in on a secret: it isn’t hard!!

You will need special software that makes both the HTML code and the Web site as it looks in a browser. There are three alternatives for you: Macromedia Dreamweaver, the most costly at several hundred dollars; Microsoft Front Page, a simpler piece of software that you can buy for around $100; and Nvu, which costs you nothing. Nvu is open-source software. Open-source software is available for free; those who create and maintain it donate their time, often to provide us with an alternative to Microsoft.

Another expense for you is Web hosting. When you buy Web hosting, you are actually renting space on a server. There are plenty of hosting companies out there, many offering fancy solutions that you as a novice don’t need. There are hosting companies offering inexpensive solutions, too. For example, you can find a Web hosting company that will give you both hosting and domain registration for about $25 per year. Domain registration is something else you need–reserving your domain name, such as www.mywebsite.com. Usually it costs under $10 by itself. Try this: put “cheap domain hosting” into a search engine and look for user-friendly and simple solutions.

E-books are becoming more and more common. When you buy an ebook, you are paying for the information in it, pure and simple. In fact, that’s all it is, information. You have to provide the printer if you want a hard copy. E-books are popular because they provide information instantly–something that folks in our culture are happy to pay for. In fact, you may be able to find an e-book on how to use Nvu.

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