I want to make a website...any help/ideas?

Question

i am home all day and dont do a thing. i have some money to invest in this venture but dont want to spend more than i need...any ideas?

Answer 1

The easiest way for a novice to build a web site is to start with a web template. Web Templates can be customized and you can use the layout but swap the graphics etc.... this will get you comfortable with basic HTML design and an HTML editor (like Dreamweaver).

Here are some resources for free or inexpensive templates that are easy to edit and manage.

Webmaster Templates - http://www.webmaster-templates.net

Free Web Templates - http://www.freewebtemplates.com/

Web Design Elements - http://www.webdesign-elements.com

Free Website Templates - http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/

Free Layouts - http://www.freelayouts.com/

Free Templates Online - http://www.freetemplatesonline.com

HTML website templates can significantly ease the burden of designing and creating websites by providing webmasters with a ready-made web layout, structure, basic graphics, and color scheme.

The templates can generally be edited and customized with any HTML editor. The biggest advantage for webmasters using ready-made templates is the amount of time that can be saved.  

Answer 2

Well, it depends on how much you want to spend.

1. The cheapest option I know is:

http://www.hosttell.com/one/

$3.75/month but they don't offer that much disk space and options.

2. Godaddy has a couple of nice plans:

http://www.hosttell.com/godaddy/

3. For $5.78/month I recommend Dreamhost http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting.html

Their standard price is $119.40/year ($9.95/month if you pay yearly) but they currently have a promotion. You can use the promo code PLUS at sign up page and get the $50 discount + 2 Free domain names. This way you get them for $69.40/year ($5.78/month). You can use their huge Disk Space and host unlimited number of sites on a single plan.

Disk space: 500 GB

Bandwidth: 5000 GB

2 Free domain names

Price: $5.78/month ($69.40/year)

4. If you're willing to pay $20+/monthly for hosting I recommend:

http://www.mediatemple.com

http://www.slicehost.com

Answer 3

I assume you are looking to develop the skill of making web sites.

What I would suggest is first learning HTML and handcoding things. Its really archaic but whenever I first start building a web site, I hand code a very simple version and link all the pages together.

Then get bootlegs of the following programs and learn them adequitly well. Check with friends and family members to see if they can burn a CD of each of these from work:

Dreamweaver

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Also, pick up a fancy little digital camera for about $250.

Just work through the various tutorials on the Internet for these programs, and knowing basic HTML will help you understand everything from a top down perspective. Basic HTML is really easy to understand and it only takes about 2 weeks to get it down where you just type it.

Answer 4

One idea is to create a website where you write about something you know very well, maybe on traveling in Europe, or things to know when you go camping, etc. To make a website, you can create a free one with Microsoft Office Live Small Business - http://tinyurl.com/officeliveoffer . It comes with 500mb of storage and has no ads. It has a free online web design tool that allows you to create web pages without coding. Currently, MS is offering a free domain name (i.e. yoursite.com) for the first year.

Answer 5

It would depend what you want to do.  If you're looking for entertainment or a blog, I would look for something cheap or free.  I use typepad.com for my blog.

If you're looking to build an existing business or start a web business, I would recommend Site Build It!  It is a complete system that will walk you step by step through everything from brainstorming to choosing and registering a domain to building pages (you don't need to know html with this system) to submitting to search engines and directories to building traffic to your site to making money.  The annual fee includes domain registration, hosting and email as well as all the tools for the above.

http://www.sitesell.com/Brenda55.html tells about the Site Build It! system.  The short video near the top is a good overview.

Pick a topic you know a lot about or would enjoy learning about.  It will make the process fun.  Good luck.

Answer 6

If this is your 1st time to want to make a website then I will recommend you create your website yourself & host it any free web hosting site.