A Website is a group of Web pages and graphics that are interconnected by hyperlinks. They all use HTML tags that create documents that can be read on the Web using special programs called Browsers. A single Web page can contain many screens or printable pages of text, graphics, audio, and even video.

Although each Web page can be considered an Internet site, the starting point for a Website is generally a single page called the home page. Websites can also contain word processor documents, multimedia, scripts, and databases. They can even contain other Websites, called Subsites, that are nested within the main site.

Disk-Based and Server-Based Sites:

Disk-Based:
Typically, you start by creating a Website on your local computer's hard drive. This is called a Disk-Based site. However, a Disk-Based site isn't available for other people to see until you Publish (or copy) it to a Web server; and there are many kinds of publishing software available to do this.
Server-Based:
Once a site is published on the Web, it is then a Server-Based site. You can also work directly on a Web Server to modify a Server-Based site without the extra step of publishing, but normally this isn't the best way to do it

The advantage of starting with a Disk-Based site is that you can build and edit your pages and test them on your hard drive before they go live. This is something you'd definitely want to do if your site has the potential to impact people in a substantial way.

For example, it's probably wise to create and test a disk-based site if it lists products and prices. You'd want to test and review the pricing pages to make sure each price is accurate and that the shopping functions work. Also, if someone is paying you for an advertisement on your site, you'd want to check out the appearance of the ad and any hyperlinks to make sure they take you to the right place.

The disadvantage of a Disk-Based site is that there are some functions that won't work on them until you publish them to a server because they rely on software that resides on the server. These can be things like hit counters, tracking functions and certain data base operations.

A Few Important Considerations when Planning your Web Service:

ASP pages can be processed only on Windows-based Web servers.
ASP.NET (the NET framework) and PHP are usually not offered on the same server. If so, you'll have to choose between one or the other. Some Microsoft programs require the NET framework, while other programs are set up to work with PHP programs. You should know ahead of time what programs you will be using so you can ask what the hosting company can provide.
MySQL can run on UNIX, Linux, and Windows-based Web servers but not all ISP companies will offer it on all of their server setups.
MS SQL (by Microsoft) and ASP.NET will work on the same server.

For more information on what you might require from a Web Hosting service see my topic on Hosting Services.

What Will Your Site Be About?

Do you know what your site is going to be about? You need to determine your site content. This will be determined by your interests, the interest's of others, the information you have to offer, your business, and/or your competition.

Personal or Family Site:
If you want to set up a personal or family site then the content will likely contain information that your (or your family) are interested in or passionate about. Building and maintaining a personal or family site shouldn't feel like work, but should be fun.
Information Site:
Maybe you have some information that others on the Internet would be interested in and you'd like to share it with them, such as: Research information, hobbies, reading interests, sports, fun and games, or talents.
Business Site:
If you want a business site, then it will be your storefront on the Internet. You should know what your competitor's sites are like. Study them, and note some of the things that you like about their sites. Make a list of everything that you want your site to have and what will be on each page. The list will probably get very large very quickly; if so, then depending on your time or money, you might have to pair it down. We'll discuss more about this topic in Site Planning.

No matter what kind of site you will be setting up, you might be interested in how many people are searching for your subject.
Overture's Keyword Suggestion Tool.
An online program that displays the number of searches for keyword terms over the last month including related searches that include your term. Based on data from Overture's network.

Pay For It or Do It Yourself?

Have you decided if you are going to hire someone to set up your Website or are you going to build it yourself? There are advantages and disadvantages to both ways but it will probably boil down to two issues: Time and Money: Which one do you have the most of.

YOU HAVE THE TIME:
If you can't afford to pay someone but you have the time and energy to build your own site, then here are some of the things you will be doing with your time:
- Evaluate and acquire a Web building program.
- Evaluate and acquire a Graphics program.
- Learn basic HTML.
- Learn how to use your programs.
- Acquire the graphic you will need for your site.
- Plan out and build your site.
- Maintain your site.
- Plan on spending time updating your site with new information in order to keep it fresh and current.
Designing and building your own Website can be a rewarding challenge
and even fun.
YOU HAVE THE MONEY:
If you don't have the time and energy to build and maintain your own Website, then you can hire a Professional Web Designer to do it for you.
- Check with other people or companies who have hired a Web Designer and find out who the Designer was and whether the customer was satisfied.
- Compare what they have to offer for the money. Costs can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a couple of no frills pages, to thousands of dollars for more complex sites.
- Get references from the Designer and contact the references.
- Find out about the Designer's pricing plan.
- Make sure the Designer has several years of experience.
- Check out some of his Websites. If you don't see any site layouts that you like, look for someone else.
- Find out how much maintenance will cost after the site has been completed and whether you can do the maintenance yourself (If you want to save some money in the future.)
WHAT IF YOU DON'T HAVE EITHER TIME OR MONEY:
If you don't have the time and don't have the money, then you will have to be a bit more creative. Do you have a friend who knows how to build Websites who owes you a favor or with whom you could barter? (Maybe you could mow their lawn for the summer or cook dinner for them for a week.)

Use your imagination, but just keep in mind that you usually "Get What You Pay For" so don't have high expectations.
To find out more about setting up a Website, Quick and Cheap, click Here.

In the next section, Choosing A Site Name, I'll explain domain names and give you recommendations on how to select a good name for your Website.