The World Wide Web has experienced explosive growth over the last decade for one simple reason: today creating a website is cheap and easy.
Even if you’re not tech-savvy and have no experience, if you can click a mouse and cruise the Internet, you already possess all the skills you’ll need to build a simple website for your local Association.
You can do this through several using web publishing software.
Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can publish a website; all you need is the right software. At bare minimum you need an HTML editor to create a web page and a file transfer program to send your web page from your computer to your website.
If you want to flex your tech muscles, you can learn HTML and code your web pages manually. EditPlus is a good HTML editor with a 30-day free trial period.
If you don’t have the time or interest in learning to code HTML manually, you’re not alone. Most web publishers don’t either. Instead, they use a “What You See Is What You Get” interface.
These WYSIWYG editors (pronounced WHIS-E-WIG) allow you to create a web page without seeing the code. Microsoft’s Frontpage and Adobe’s Dreamweaver are two of the most popular.
It is beyond the scope of this Web site to provide recommendations, but we can say that each package has pros and cons, and that the wise editor conducts a little research before making a decision.
Regardless of the program you choose, you must master its basic functions. Your software manuals will provide the information you need; however, there are tutorials available online to help ease you through the learning curve:
Tutorials & Templates
- eHow – Fantastic website that focuses on how-to’s of building different types of websites. This site offers nearly every consideration.
- Templates Box – Hundreds of free website templates.
- Website Tips – For more advanced users, this website has lots of helpful tutorials on content writing, SEO, etc. to make your web and newsletter content worth reading.
Web Hosting
Hosting serves as the vehicle to get your website online. There are plenty of FREE hosting services:
If your website is more robust, requiring managed hosting and/or dedicated, customized server configurations, Rackspace is among the industry leaders and offers competitive pricing.
However, if you feel like this is a lot of work for you, Afritech Media is more than willing to work with you throughout your journey. We provide professional and industry-ready website designs. Talk to us today.
