Building Websites

See the side menu under Building Websites to find more on Graphics, Squeeze Pages and Blogging.

There are two aspects to website design; what it says and what it looks like. The search engine spiders cannot see, they can only read so the written word is paramount in getting search engine rankings and you can get away with some pretty grim looking websites if you are only looking for search engine ranking..

Unfortunately, human visitors, remember them - they're the ones with the credit cards, are very discriminating and like good looking sites. You need to bear both these factors in mind as you decide how to go about building your site.

If you are interested in the appearance of your site rather than its stucture then take a look at the page about graphics.

Tip! Always start with the basics and read the instructions. If you want your site to rank well with Google then go read Google's own advice at:

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769

You will also find lots of useful stuff about technical issues at www.webmonkey.com.

FTP Software

Somewhere along the line you are going to need to learn and use ftp software. FTP stands for file transfer protocol - and is for publishing files onto your website. Although dealing with hosts and servers is pretty frightening initially, I know it scared the pants off me at the time, if you can understand the structure of folders and that sites are userid and password controlled then it is pretty easy. Pick up one of these to investigate.

WS_FTP Home www.ipswitch.com/ Blindingly simple - that's why I use it!

Filezilla : http://www.filezilla.sourceforge.net/ - but this one is free!

http://whispertech.com/surfer/ - is another free one.

Do it Yourself Websites using Templates

Free Web Templates: www.freewebtemplates.com

Web site design

Yes, you can outsource your website design - if you want to pay for it and wait for it. The reality is that there are so many changes and tweaks you want to make all the time that it is really useful to be able to do it yourself - even it it's only the basics. And much of what we do with single sales page copy and a few optin forms is not rocket science.

Blogging

The easy way these days is to use a Wordpress blog and I would strongly recommend the Semiologic Pro package which has all the best SEO plugins already integrated and working. It's a little pricey and you will still need to spend some money on a unique skin to make it look nice with some graphics but the ease of use thereafter is, in my opinion, well worth the price.

Blogging is probably the most effective marketing and SEO tool available - especially for those with no technical skills. And you can make them look and behave pretty much exactly how you want. BUT - when you start getting serious and you have very specific objectives then you cannot afford to waste your time messing around with something you may not be too good at. If you want a good website, you want it fast and you want it to work according to your specification then go to the professionals on Elance and its alternatives. See Outsourcing.

Do It Yourself - From Scratch

Nvu and Kompozer. If you really are starting from scratch then I would recommend NVu and it's further development Kompozer. These are open source products (therefore free) and I have now changed to using it. It is well regarded and likely to be intuitive and robust if open source products are anything to go by.  You can find a whole series of free tutorials here.

Front Page. I used to use Front Page. Initially I was very happy because it really does behave very much like Word. Not surprising really as it all comes out of Microsoft. I was aware of the rumour machine about superfluous code but I worked on my standard principle that you only have so much time in this life and if I keep chopping and changing and learning new ways of doing the same thing then that is just wasted time. I picked my copy on eBay where you don't have to pay the full price.

Front page is reported to produce a lot of superfluous code so is disliked by web design professionals. So what, I thought, I'm not a professional and it works for me with minimal effort. When I've made a lot of money I'll pay a professional to go back and tidy up my mess. With hindsight, I wish I had known about Nvu when I started.

I have now changed to Nvu. Why? Because I found that as I got more proficient with Front Page I was publishing more web pages - but didn't realise that Front Page was not even building in the most basic standard requirements and this can have a dramatic effect on your search engine rankings. So basically I was publishing rubbish. Nvu does not appear to be as capable as Front Page but I have not yet found an occasion where it was limited by what the software could do. I am always limited by my own knowledge before I reach the limit of the software. So my recommendation for beginners is NVu, or if you know you are going to be technical then go straight to Dreamweaver.

Dreamweaver. This is the 'professional' solution. If you have the time to learn it, are technically inclined and have the money then you might consider this.

XSite Pro. Highly recommended by a friend of mine as being simpler than Front Page. I don't have any personal experience of this package.

Website Building Software. You will quickly discover when using these software packages that you are on a substantial learning curve no matter which product you choose. As I remarked on the page about hosting it is prudent to stay away from website building packages offered by your host as they will ultimately tie you into that host and will also be limited in some way.

However, BlinkWeb is a free tool that helps you to construct sites. Bear in mind that anything that automates a process is bound to be slightly limited. So the 80/20 rule applies that you will never achieve perfection without an extraordinary effort. So just be satisfied with what you can achieve and remember you are a marketer looking for profit - not an artist.

Making Money With Your Website

It might seem obvious but the purpose of this excercise is to make money and there are some well proven website structures that make this easier. If you do not yet know what a 'back end' (no sniggering at the back there!) or an upsell is then this probably won't make much sense to you but if you do then you might find this flow chart useful. If you don't know yet then the most important thing in your marketing career right now is to find out.

Web Site Design

If you would like a more comprehensive design with graphics for your website then try Design Outpost on the Outsourcing page. Alternatively, I've just been looking at Graphic Mavericks portfolio page and its pretty striking - especially the number of big names recognisable there. That's always a good sign of quality (and a steeper price, of course).

Another really good option is to pay $199 to Shark Studio for a collection of graphic elements that will give you a consistent visual appeal when added to a basic website or blog. For that price you get 1 x Header, 1 x Footer, 1 x eCover (any type), 1 x Animated Action Button, 1 x Animated Banner.

Free Minisites Videos

If you would like a free set of videos on how to build minisites for niche markets then Michael Rasmussen has a set of 12 free videos. As usual, you should be aware that it is a lead in to multiple upsells and OTOs (one time offers). It is not necessary to bother yourself with the upsells, just go straight down to the bottom of the page to the 'No thankyou…' link to join the site as a free member and access to the free videos.

Free Graphics

Very often it only takes a few nice graphics to improve the appearance of a basic sales letter. There are a bunch of useful marketing graphics available at FreeMarketingGraphics.com that you might find useful. Note that this is a Mike Filsaime associated product so it is inevitably just a lead in to a One Time Offer. So be prepared to be strong and keep your credit card locked up unless you really, really need the full package.

Ebook Covers

As soon as you start thinking of developing your own product then you will need some visual representation of it on screen. It is a proven fact that people like to look at a picture of an ebook and are more likely to buy as a result. Despite the fact that they know very well that they are going to get a digital download when they hit the buy now button. It's just a quick of human nature, possibly because a professional presentation of the product leads people to believe that the product itself will be equally professional. Rather like luxury products are always wrapped up in lots of expensive and oversized packaging which often might cost more than the product itself.

Anyway, that still leaves you with the problem of how to produce that wonderful image of your ebook, special report etc. You might like to try 1ClickCovers at www.AmazingOneClickCovers.com. Be warned, after you have bought it you will still need Photoshop if you are to take full advantage of it.

Colour Schemes

Many of us fall down when producing our own web sites because we don't have any eye for graphic design. Even simple things like choosing colours which blend together can be difficult for the novice - and bad choices can be positively offputting without us really knowing why.

Color Wheel Pro is a software tool that helps you create harmonious color schemes based on color theory.