Creating Your First Website

So, you’ve decided to create your own website from scratch and would probably like to know how to go about it. Well, there are numerous options available. If you perform a Google search for information on how to create your own website, you’ll no doubt be presented with a collection of sites offering either software downloads, tutorials or even web based website creation applications. So which one is the best for you? Good question. If you’d have asked me that question a few years back, I would have whole heartedly advised you to download a full website design application such as Dreamweaver or a similar program from a reputable firm, but now, in 2008 / 2009 their are numerous online website builder applications out there that you can literally drag, drop and type into and have a fantastic website created in seconds - sites that rival anything created in expensive downloadable software applications. For me, this is the best method, if you just want to create a site but are not too interested in learning the ins and outs. If you do want to know a little more, I’d suggest reading some tutorials and trying to hard code your site line by line. This will give you a great insight into how it all works. You’ll pick it up in no time and may soon be offering ecommerce web design for yourself!

Getting Your Content Online

Most companies have no issue creating content, they know their niches but the issue comes down to how to publish that content on the web, mobile or even in print. A lot of companies don’t have the facilities to be able to publish their content onto web and mobile so end up turning to content management systems. A content management system or CMS as it is often referred to is literally that, a way of managing (add / edit / delete) and in turn publishing that content onto the desired platform or media. A content management system can make your life so much easier, especially if you’re uploading and working with large amounts of content media at a time. Many companies appreciate the need for a fully managed CMS system and are in turn outsourcing their digital asset management to third party companies who are experts in this area. Managing your content once you have created it is the single biggest hurdle most companies face and the right CMS system can help to combat that hurdle.

The other advantage in outsourcing or using a content management system is that you can free up your staff to work on other, more productive tasks than simply managing your content.

Choosing The Right Hosting

Choosing the right web host is often quite difficult. If you’re anything like me, you’ll look at the price first and consider the service second. That is obviously the wrong way of going about it, so what exactly do you need to look for when choosing / locating good managed hosting services? Well, the first and foremost should surely be, where is the data center located. Lots of people like to host in the United States due to the cost savings that brings, but other individuals may prefer to host their websites in their own countries for connectivity, latency and even search engine optimisation purposes! The other thing to look for is the spec of the server you get for the price. Obviously the faster the server the better, but sometimes it is most cost effective to choose a slightly lower spec server with a huge cost saving compared to the top model. The next thing to look for is the bandwidth allocation. Be sure you get enough bandwidth included in your plan to cover your needs as bandwidth, should you go over your quota can become expensive and fast.

Of course, these are just 3 of the things to consider. You may also want to consider options such as whether they’re SAS 70 audited, hard disk replacement times and support times if you’re running a business critical website.