You may believe that creating your own custom website is something that is best left to the professionals, but it is not nearly as difficult as you think. The best part is there is an abundance of free tips and tools available on the 'net that will make the job even easier.
I'm not going to tell you that this will be a snap…it took me a month to go from knowing nothing about the subject to actually getting my webpages to the point where I would actually put them in front of people…and I am constantly tweaking them. I am always on the lookout for better design elements, easier navigation, improved readability, etc. This is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition; a custom website is like a living, breathing organism that will need regular attention.
The good news is that it will help you to build long-term success like no other single element you use to promote your business.
I will assume that you've already developed some content to put on your website. Now you need to find and download a free application called SeaMonkey. Do a web search on "SeaMonkey download" and you will get to where you need to be.
After you've downloaded the application, you need to create a folder on your desktop entitled something like "My Custom Website". Create three subfolders in your main folder, one entitled "Content", another "Images", and the last "Samples". Put your content in the appropriate folder. Images will be discussed in subsequent articles; Samples will be addressed at the end of this lesson.
Now open SeaMonkey. Left-click on the File button in the upper left hand corner, put your pointer on New in the drop-down menu, and left-click Composer Page in the resulting drop-down menu.
This will bring you to a page that is very similar to a word processor application. Now go back to your Content subfolder, select a document, then copy and paste the text into the Preview page in SeaMonkey. You can use the toolbar on the top of the page just like you do in your word processor to change the appearance of the page as it relates to the actual text, centering, etc.
Now click the Save button on the toolbar, and SeaMonkey will prompt you for a title. You can easily change it later, so don't wrack your brain trying to think of something incredibly clever. When you've entered your title and clicked OK, you will be asked where you want to save the file. Choose the main folder you created (My Custom Website).
Congratulations! You've just built your first webpage. You can see what it will look like on the internet by simply double-clicking on the html file you just created in your main folder. Your browser will automatically open the page in a new window, even though it isn't actually on the internet.
You are well on your way to getting a custom website that is ready to publish! I recommend that you play around with the application to get familiar with the features. Also, and I've found the Help function in SeaMonkey to have better information than a lot of applications that I've paid for.
Before the next lesson, do a web search for "free templates". Download several that you like to the Samples subfolder you created, and play around with pasting your content into those formats. Practice as much as you can, and try not to get frustrated - you'll find that the more familiar you get with the application, the more you can do with it.
The next lesson will focus on the navigation bar you'll be creating for your custom website. See you then!