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How To Set Up Your Own Website
This article deals solely with the mechanics of writing a website
and placing it in the search engines.
For an explanation of why you want to do this, and how to
determine what your target audience is, send a blank email to
websitenewsletter@sendfree.com. That article will also tell you
how to harness the power of newsletters to bring in traffic.
This is something of a rough overview. If you have specific
questions or want to know about something not covered here, write
to michaellarocca@lycos.com and I'll try to help.
And finally, since websites that give you free advice on setting
up websites tend to come and go rapidly, visit
http://free_reads.tripod.com/bookpromo.html for the latest
version of the information contained in this article.
Web Site
Free or registered? Buying your own domain name costs about US$35
A year, and paying someone to host it costs US$20 or less per
month. Conventional wisdom has it that free sites don't place as
well in search engines, and this is probably true. But if you're
just learning, I'd start with a freebie and move it later. If you
want a free webpage, you can run a search for "free websites."
Here's what every web host should have:
FTP server
Banners, frames or pop-ups? Pop-ups are definitely a no-no, and
personally I hate frames
An easy-to-remember address. Some use www.{server}.com/{user} and
others use {user}.{server}.com. These are both fine. But
something like www.{server}.com/{something}/{something else}/...
is just to complicated to transmit verbally, assuming you can
remember it.
CGI support, which means nothing to you now but which you'll
definitely want down the road
If you're looking for some help just getting started, visit Is
Your Website Unfriendly? for some excellent pointers and a fine
tutorial. It's at http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz/HTMLtips.html.
Also, visit Links To Helpful Sites over on MURDER MUST ADVERTISE.
http://www.murdermustadvertise.com/Links.html. The site was set
up for mystery writers, but the advice is useful to any writer.
Heavy on the Internet promotion, meaning the FREE stuff, but not
limited specifically to the Internet. Fine tips on writing as
well.
You also want to visit two other sites that offers much the same
thing as this article does but have very different sets of
resources.
Internet Authors Network
http://www.xenite.org/internet_authors/
FictionHouse Raconteur
http://www.fictionhouse.com/html/raconteur.html
If you don't know how to write a website, many of the freebie
sites give you the tools to do it by menu in five minutes.
Personally, I hate those. To learn all you need to know, visit:
HTML For The Complete Idiot
http://www.geocities.com/hiker_jjw/
HTML Goodies
http://htmlgoodies.earthweb.com/
HTML: An Interactive Tutorial for Beginners
http://www.davesite.com/webstation/html/
HTML Primer
http://www.htmlprimer.com/
The JavaScript Source
http://javascript.internet.com/
Web Developers Journal
http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/
Webmonkey
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/
For many years, I used Notepad to write my HTML. Now I use CSE
HTML Validator Lite. It's free. Imagine Notepad with the ability
to open multiple pages (like Excel workbooks) and to validate
your
code, and you've pretty much figured out CSE HTML Validator.
http://www.htmlvalidator.com
Diagnostic Tools
Here's a closely related subject. Running a "diagnostic" on your
site (after upload) will tell you how long it takes to run at
various modem speeds, how compatible it is with older browsers,
how to improve the problem areas, identify busted links, etc.
Link Alarm - Website that emails you reports
http://www.linkalarm.com/
Link Sleuth - Software you download and run
http://home.snafu.de ilman/xenulink.html
Web Site Garage
http://www.websitegarage.com
Scripts
Okay, you're finding you want to do things that HTML just doesn't
handle. In a nutshell, if the website sends it to the user,
that's HTML. If the user sends it to the website, that's CGI.
But do you really want to learn yet another new language? Of
course not. It's already been done thousands of times. You want
to go pick up some free code, perhaps learn just enough to plug
it in and make it work. Here's what you need to know about
scripts, then.
http://www.merrymonk.com/cgi-shl/s.pl?index-419
This book will tell you everything you need to know about how to
install a CGI script, modify it, or even write your own if you
feel like it. It's loaded with many free samples, and it tells
you all the places to get thousands more. It's a resource you'll
refer to over and over again, and it'll pay for itself the first
time you use it.
Before you actually go out and BUY it, though, download the free
sample I'm giving away. Then you'll know what CGI is and if you
can use it. If you can use it, and I believe you can, this is the
best book I've read on the subject. Easy to read and understand,
loaded with useful stuff.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/michaellarocca/files is where you
can get that free sample. It's called sample.pdf.
Software and Graphics
Okay, I have no doubt that you want pictures and buttons and all
those bells and whistles. I won't even try to keep the list up to
date on the free artwork. Just pop into any search engine and
type "free clipart" or "free backgrounds" or "free wallpaper" and
prepare to be hammered.
By the way, if you're on a website somewhere and you see an
uncopyrighted graphic you like, you can always right-click it and
"Save Target As" and take it home with you.
But remember, every graphic takes time to load on the user's end.
Try to keep the file sizes as small as you can manage. This is
where "optimization" comes in handy. Or perhaps you want to do a
little graphics creation of your own. For these particular tasks,
I recommend the links below.
DeWitt Industries Interactive Web Site
http://www.dewittindustries.com
EarthStation1 Shareware and Freeware
http://earthstation1.simplenet.com/software.html
Graphics Optimization
http://www.xat.com
Mediabuilder
http://www.mediabuilder.com
My Imager
http://www.myimager.com/
Scream Design
http://www.screamdesign.com
About the Author
Michael LaRocca is the author of four published novels and an
EPPIE 2002 Award finalist. He's been working as a full-time
author and editor since December 1999. For a complete list of
his articles, all available via autoresponder, send a blank email
to michaellarocca@sendfree.com
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