Next Post we will learn a bit about FTP transfer to get your files from your computer to your host server.
Personal Web Server
Next Post we will learn a bit about FTP transfer to get your files from your computer to your host server.
From Your Computer to Your Virtual Host
Search Engines
Once the site is put together and ready to go online there will ultimatiy be questions from the client on where the site will show up in serarch engine inquirys. There are a few baics of search engine optimization rules that can bring results when followed. Keep in mind the head on every page, that's where you'll want to have meta tags. Spiders crawl the internet and look for the meta information. If the site is constructed with frames, the head of each frame document should have it's own meta information. Keywords, descriptions, and text are all contributing factors. Keywords are best utilized when they are relevant to the content in that particular page. In the head of your document put the keywords in a meta tag < meta name = "keywords" content = "...." />. The description of your page is the blip of information that will accompany your search engine results. Write down a few descriptive sentences that best describe that page. The tag for enclosing this information is a meta tag in the head as well and has a similar format to the keyword tags. < meta name = " description" content = "...." />. This is a key place where the person will decide to click on the results or not. Google does not get information from the meta tags, it uses text in the page. Use keywords wherever you can, and make sure there are keywords in your alt property of your image tag. Use keywords in their natural flow of language, that's where you will get the best results.
Your Bit of Real Estate on the Internet
Websites are connected by a network of larger networks of networks. Websites are published on a computer connected twenty four hours a day, seven days a week to that network. You can rent space on computers that will stay connected with your website all the time. The process of renting the space is called virtual hosting. There are quite a few companies that offer this service but the best thing is to go with an established, well rounded one. I prefer Network Solutions. They have been around for awhile and offer nice combination plans for start ups. If you host with them for a one year contract, ask about how you can get your domain registered free. Another nice perk is their customer service. If tech support can't answer your question, they get someone who can. Most providers of hosting packages will include an email account (or 100) so that you can receive email with the format of yourname@yourdomain.com. Network Solutions offers 300 Gigabytes of space for $10 a month. That includes 25 email addresses and free registration of your domain. We will review a sample of hosting providers in another post and should you decide you were not happy with your hosting, it is not difficult to switch.
In our next post we will discuss how to setup a virtual server on your desktop
Register Your Dot Com
The address of your website is registered with a domain name server to allow user friendly names. ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a non profit organization that oversees the registration of top level domains. Those registrations for names can be done through companies with more well known names like Yahoo, Go Daddy and Network Solutions. I personally like the service at Network Solutions and would recommend them for domain registration and server space. There are several suffixes to choose from and are not limited to .com. Organization is represented by ".org", network ,".net", and governmental agencies by ".gov".
The name you want to use is subject to availability and may require a creative thought process to find a name that is not taken with the suffix you want.
Trial and Error
A good way to approach trying name availability is with ten names to try at first instead of just one. For example, if you want autoparts.com, make a list that would include variations of that like easyautoparts.com, ezautoparts.com, netautoparts.com.
Once you have a list you can try it out at Network Solutions for free. They will also let you know what is available in .net, .org, .biz and others.
Free School
In the last post we talked about setting up a work space with a computer, internet access, and a filing system based on paper. Here we will discuss a learning option that is thorough and free of charge. There are many different ways to approach publishing a website, but all are based on the cornerstone of HTML. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML can be formatted on the screen in different ways but the universal approach is with CSS. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets. Founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee the international organization that standardizes the World Wide Web is the WC3. WC3 stands for the World Wide Web Consortium. The WC3 offers free tutorials that are well constructed and are useful to both beginners and seasoned developers alike.
W3C Schools are step by step. You do not need to have any knowledge before you start the HTML, and you do not need any special tools. They have quizzes where you can test what you have learned at each level. In addition to the quizzes they offer an application where you can test out what you are being taught. Once you know the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, and XHTML you’re given an option to take an exam and get certified as an HTML Developer. There is a $59 fee to take the test but all the learning materials are free of charge.
Next post we will look into registering a name for the website.
Setup - Equipment and Foundations
To get started developing websites there are a few basics you will need just to get going.
Pencil, Notebook, and Filing System.
This could be one of the most overlooked but important set of tools when developing for the web. Though it may sound irritating or unnecessary to those of you who want to dive in and create it can save you hours of misdirected work. The notebook and pencil work well for taking client notes and sketching your project. Filing may sound like common sense but don't ignore setting up a system. It can be irritating, to say the least at 11 pm when you want to work for a few hours, have the design you sketched out, but can't locate brochures you're using as reference.
Computer With a High Speed Connection
Hopefully, this is a no brainer. It would be prudent, however, to keep a few of the following things in mind. You will want a computer with enough power to run some significant programs. These programs including image editing and WYSIWYG development will need a bit of processing power. There are some good buys right now on basic desktops that will suit the purpose fine so unless you really love to put them together, buy a computer. Buying a computer usually has the added bonus of a support contract. Good PC support can be a lifesaver. A high speed cable or DSL connection should have a decent speed for downloading as well as uploading.
Next post we will explore what type of language to begin with and where you can learn it online for free.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
