The biggest problem facing most people is that they aren't HTML
wizards, capable of churning out websites as fast as they can
type. When it comes to putting up a website, the 'geeks'
definitely have an advantage. How can we overcome that?
The key is to remember that structure and presentation are two
different things. Now, I realize I just spoke Greek...
'Structure' is the underlying foundation of a website - the 'glue'
that holds it all together and performs whatever functions you may
require.
'Presentation', on the other hand, is what the website actually
looks like. Smart website programmers attempt as much as
possible to separate the foundation of their website from the
presentation of the content contained on their website. The ways
to do this are beyond this short article - but you can look up
'CSS' should you be interested.
Some people turn to 'turnkey' website templates, but there are two
major problems... unless you know HTML, you can't modify what you
start with, and chances are, it's going to look like a few
thousand other sites. (Of course, with the size of the Internet -
that's not the problem that it might first appear.) Being unable
to modify a 'turnkey' template to do what you want is a major
problem for those who aren't HTML literate.
So is there a solution to allow non-geeks to put up a website
fairly quickly?
Well, yes and no. For even the method I'm going to describe will
require that you know how to FTP software to a web host - and how
to 'CHMOD' files. Knowing how to create a MySQL database with a
CPANEL is also a requirement. Fortunately, there's a great deal
of instructional material on the Internet for these minimum
requirements.
Ready for the solution? One that will allow you to put up a
website in a minimum amount of time? It's a secret so shocking
that some of you will start banging your head ala 'The Three
Stooges'.
In a word - Blogging Software. I'm going to detail just one
'brand', but what I say can equally be applied to many other
blogging packages. I use 'Wordpress', which is one of the largest
and most used of the blogging packages available. It's also
completely free and well supported. New updates seem to appear on
a monthly basis - so you don't ever have to fear for a lack of
support.
What does blogging software such as Wordpress do? It gives you
the underlying foundation of a website - all you have to do is
define how you want it to 'look' with theme plugins, and type in
the content. I've actually created a complete website in just
half-a-day, and
most of that time was spent on the actual
content I was adding.
Wordpress boasts of their famous "5 Minute Install", and from
experience, I'd have to say that they aren't far off the mark at
all. That is, of course, once you've done it a few times. If you
know how to create a MySQL database, and know how to FTP files,
and CHMOD them - then you should have no problems meeting or
beating that 5 minute time!
Now - some of the advantages: Wordpress comes out of the box as
fairly good in the SEO department - and the few holes can be
quickly patched with a few SEO plugins. In the Blogging Software
world - plugins are just bits of code that you upload to a special
directory - 'turn them on', and they begin to add some new or
different feature or functionality to your basic website.
In other words - no need to learn HTML, or, in this case, PHP -
since any feature or function you can think of has already been
desired
and programmed by someone else. All you need to do
is to search Google for the Wordpress plugin you want.
Another advantage for using Blogging software - Search engines
seem to treat 'em differently. I was used to waiting weeks and
months for my hand-coded websites to be indexed after submitting
them. But due to the time-sensitive nature of Blogs - search
engines seem to put blogs ahead of ordinary websites. Maybe it's
just my imagination - but Google had my last Wordpress driven
website indexed the same day - and I started getting traffic from
Google within the next few days.
You may wonder if two Wordpress driven websites might look too
similar - certainly it's a possibility if they're both using the
same 'theme' - but the chances are remote. I use a specific
'Semiologic' theme for my website - and I've never run across
another website using that theme - although I know that there must
be several hundred others out there.
Since Blogging software is, by default, a "content management
system", making changes to your website is no more difficult than
going to your website and 'logging in'. Then you merely type new
content, rearrange the presentation, add new features by uploading
a new plugin, etc. I've hand-coded complete websites, and let me
tell you, the difference in difficulty is like 'night & day'.
Keeping up a website run on blogging software is incredibly easy!
For the more advanced webmasters - you can easily integrate
blogging software with adtrackers, autoresponders, and any other
software tools you require.
Give it a try!
Ben Holmes - Owns and runs a number of websites, learn about
affliate marketing at http://www.cyberspacehomebusiness.com
