Web site creation | Web Design Basics

Why Do I Need A Website?

A website is your electronic office. Sites are created for various purposes. But since the Internet has become an environment for economic activity, the sites are mainly created for doing business, i.e. making a profit.

It is known that at present there are two main areas of using the Internet in business: the Internet as a means of communication, a source of reference information, an advertising and marketing tool for doing business (business) outside electronic networks, and the Internet as a tool for conducting electronic business based on the principles of network economics.

In the first case, sites are created to build the image of the company, conduct effective advertising and marketing research in order to find new customers and increase sales, as well as information and service support for customers. In addition, sites can be used as information channels for exchanging information with partners. Sites are also used as a means of supporting full-time and part-time educational processes and advanced training at a certain course.

In the second case, sites perform all of the above functions and, in addition, are an instrument for conducting electronic or network business. In this case, the sites perform the functions of trading platforms, which include: Internet exchanges, auctions and. etc.

Sites are used to provide financial services (online payment systems, exchange offices, etc.) and so on. In addition, sites are necessary for distance learning, which is one of the forms of higher education. Thus, conducting an electronic business (e-commerce) without a website is not possible ( see the main models of electronic business ).

What Is A Website?

A Web site is a collection of Web pages linked by hyperlinks. Web pages or hypertext documents are text that contains special commands called tags. These tags provide formatting for page elements and allow you to place graphics objects, pictures, hyperlinks, etc. on it.

Web pages are created using the special HTML language. HTML or HyperText Markup Language is a hypertext markup language, markup is carried out using tags. Today, besides HTML, other markup languages ​​are also used: WML, XML.

Currently, various modern technologies are used to create interactive sites: PHP, ASP, Perl, JSP, CSS, DB2, MsSQL, Oracle, Access, etc. Modern sites are usually managed sites, i.e. sites that are equipped with CMS (Content Management Systems – Content Management Systems).

Managed sites are created by developers so that information support and maintenance of the site (for example, updating the content or content of the site) can be carried out by the owner of the site.

How Are Web Pages Transferred To The Internet?

The ability to work with Web-pages provides one of the types of Internet service called the World Wide Web or WWW for short. The World Wide Web was based on the HTTP application layer protocol, which enables the reception and transmission of Web pages.

WWW works on the principle of client-servers: Internet servers, at the request of the client, which is carried out using a Web browser installed on the user’s computer, send him copies of documents. Having received the requested documents, the Web browser of the user’s PC interprets the data and displays the contents of the documents on the screen.

To create a company website you must:

determine the purpose of the site;
develop TK;
register a site domain in a specific zone (com, net, etc.);
develop a website;
Host a site;
register in search engines and subject directories;
Perform search engine optimization site;
provide ongoing support for the site.

Determining The Purpose Of Creating A Site.

Sites are created for various purposes, for example: to conduct electronic business, to support the educational process, to provide information, provide financial services, etc.

Development Of Technical Specifications.

The terms of reference take into account all stages of the development and maintenance of the site, the purpose, and purpose of the site, its design, navigation methods, indicate the language of the page layout, etc.

Typically, a site should include:

Company information, details: mailing address. Phone, email address.
Catalog of products or services offered.
Information section (news, articles, analytical reviews on the subject of the proposed products or services).
Guest book.
Payment Methods.

Domain Registration.

Domain registration is carried out in the user-selected zone com, net, info and so on. Depending on the purpose of the site, its registration area is selected. To register a site, it is advisable to choose a second-level domain, although you can work with a third-level domain.

The second-level domain is registered with the registrar – an organization engaged in the administration of domain names, for example, Domain Registration. The third level domain is acquired, as a rule, together with hosting from a hosting company. The name of the site is chosen based on the type of activity, the name of the company or the name of the owner of the site.

Website Development Is The Most Important Stage Of  Website Creation.

Website development is a complex and time-consuming process. When developing a site, you need to pay great attention to the content, structure, and design (graphic design) of Web pages, as well as the structure of the Web site and the navigation methods of the Web site.

The main thing on the site is its content or content, structured information, navigation, and then graphic design or website design. In other words, the design of the site is determined by the content of the materials that will be published on it.

Various tools are used to develop the site: site builders (designers), WebCoder, professional applications: Macromedia HomeSite Plus for Windows XP, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage, etc. To create sites, it is advisable to use the editors in  Macromedia Dreamweaver or FrontPage.

There are wizards in the FrontPage editor that make it easy to create a Web site, and templates for Web pages and Web sites containing the markup (structure) and design needed to quickly create both Web pages and Web sites. With FrontPage, you can also create Web pages and Web sites from a blank page and a blank Web site.

When creating a site, it is necessary to optimize it for search engines, since the target visitor comes to sites mainly from search engines, so you need to strive for a high rating in search engines.

Particular attention should be paid to such meta tags as Title (heading), Keywords (keywords) and Description (description), as well as the location of keywords in the text of Web pages.

Hosting A Site.

One of the most important steps in creating a site is hosting it. Web hosting is a place for placing a site on a server on the Internet, which provides access to Web pages to site visitors. Servers offer both paid and free hosting. The difference between these hosting services is the quality of the services provided. For training, choose free hosting and only after acquiring the skills of conducting electronic business or commerce, place your sites on paid hosting.

To place a site on hosting, you must register on one of the servers that provide hosting services. The Internet address or domain address of a site depends on what domain level you purchased. When working on the Internet, it’s not domain names that are used, but universal resource pointers called URLs (Universal Resource Locator).

A URL is the address of any resource (document, file) on the Internet, it indicates with what protocol it should be accessed, which program should be launched on the server, and which specific file should be accessed on the server. General view of URL: protocol: // host computer / filename.

To upload site files to the server, you can use the file manager (upload command) from the site management section on the server on which you host the site. First, using the file manager, create a directory (folder) on the server where you will place the files or select a ready-made folder on the server.

You can also upload files to the server using a browser (Internet Explorer) using the FTP protocol. Then a dialog box will appear asking you to enter a password, after entering the password and clicking the “OK” button, all your directories on the server will be displayed in the viewing window.

Next, open the folder where the site files will be placed and copy them there using one of the methods. The FTP server address is indicated in the personal data that you will receive after registering with the server. In order to make the FTP connection faster, you must first log in to your account using the http protocol.

But it’s best to use WC or Total Commander to upload files. For this, select the New FTP Connection command in the NETWORK menu and enter the FTP address in the Connect dialog box that appears. Then, upon request, enter the password and on one of the WC panels, the folders located on the server will appear, in one of them you need to place (copy) the files.

Next, you name this connection and save it. This name will be placed in the “Connect to FTP server” option in the “NETWORK” menu. When reconnecting (for example, when updating pages), you select this name, then enter a password upon request and connect to the directory in which the pages and files of your site are located.

Registration Of A Site In Search Engines And Subject Catalogs.

After placing the site on the hosting, you must register in the search engines and thematic directories Yahoo and carry out the promotion of the site. For promotion, various means are used.

Website traffic control is carried out by counters. Search engines, as a rule, have rating systems that rank resources by their attendance. To participate in the rating, set rating counters on the main page of your site.

Support And Regular Updates (Development) Of The Site.

Next, you must provide support and regular updates to the site. Moreover, the more often you update information on the site, the more there will be targeted visitors to the site and, naturally, consumers of your products or services.