The Website Building Business - Basics for Beginners

If you’ve gotten started already and you’re looking for specific information, check out the corresponding categories or recent posts. If you’re new to the world of website building, and you want to learn about how you can be a part of the internet, read on… No technical experience or coding skills necessary.

This site is currently broken down into four sections of subject-matter. Each one is an essential component to the business of building websites in 2008:

Website Content Management Systems (CMS)

How do I build websites without hand-coding and programming everything myself? These days, content management systems or CMS provides less-technical webmasters an alternative to building interactive and dynamic websites just like the one you’re reading right now. CMS also includes internet forums, social bookmarking websites, and most of the internet content platforms we use daily.

Website Hosting

How do I physically start a website and connect my content or writing to internet users? This is the job of the website hosting service. While its technically possible to turn any internet-connected PC into a web server, I’ll be focused on the commercial services provided by dedicated teams of technical specialists. How do you decide what you need and how do you find the best deal? Its all answered here.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

How do search engine users find my website? The SEO category is designed to help new webmasters understand some of the subtleties involved with search engine optimization. While I’m no expert, I do have a year of bumpy ups and downs I can share.

Internet Advertising and Online Business

How does a website make any money? The answer usually involves some type of advertising, either to related websites or to related products. This section is all about the types of website advertisements, how to generate more revenue on your site, or general online business news that provides insights for the would-be webmaster.

So…

Have you ever wanted to build a website but you had no idea where to start or even what skills you would need? This site is dedicated to answering those questions and helping new webmasters get started with all the essential knowledge like hosting, content management systems (CMS), and ranking higher in search engines to generate more organic traffic (SEO).

I’ve only been online making sites for about a year, and I’ve had tens of thousands of visitors across multiple domains. I’m not going to tell you that you will easily and quickly make a lot of money, but just by writing about topics that interest you and acquiring good backlinks, you will easily be able to recover the extremely low costs involved with starting a miniature web empire.

Of course, some people work full time on e-commerce and make a nice living out of it. Programmers and application developers can make millions, but you don’t have to know any coding language to make a few extra bucks each month. In fact, the greatest part about modern internet publishing is the Content Management Systems. This is typically free software that can be installed on the hosting company’s servers, and once installed, allows the website owner to quickly publish new articles and customize the look, interactivity, and content of their web domain. Did I mention that HTML and programming knowledge is a nice bonus, but completely not required? Some web hosts like Bluehost and Dreamhost run a system that allows users to automatically install these CMS programs. Its never been so easy…or cheap!

Day after day, prices on physical goods and services go up, but computers and internet technology go against that trend. These days, you can get a reliable host with tons of bandwidth, server space, and up-to-date server software for compatibility & automatic CMS installations.

Here is what you should look for:

  • Uptime - The most important factor in a web host is it needs to stay online.
  • Unlimited Domains - There’s no reason to have a limit. New domains are cheap and new websites are easy to set up. Why should your host decide you have too many?
  • Server Space - A website like this one might only take up a few megabytes, but do you plan on hosting your own videos or high-res images? Do you plan on trying a hundred website projects? Don’t pay too much for server space - its cheap and plentiful. A few gigs is more than most webhosts need, yet Bluehost offers thousands of gigs.
  • Database and Script Software - is it up to date? Can I run a ton of DBs? The last thing you want to worry about when you’ve found the perfect CMS for your next online project is whether or not your servers are able to understand it.
  • Positive user reviews - like this one. With a basic Fantastico install and a few minor tweaks for processing optimization, I was able to survive the “Digg Effect” and stayed online with my BlueHost hosted domains while more than 17,000 people visited one of my websites in a single day.
  • Ease of Use - When I started with Bluehost it was so easy to use I was afraid there was some sort of catch. Nope. It has the power, reliability, and storage that is way beyond my needs and I’ve been able to start up almost a dozen sites on different domains related to my hobbies and interests - and it handles more traffic volume than I can even maintain on a daily basis. When I was looking to expand, I found good Dreamhost coupon and got my second hosting space for almost nothing. Now I have about a dozen active domains, independent income, and a lot of new in-demand knowledge I didn’t have this time last year.

I’ve tried a few web hosts since I started this little online website building hobby - other hosts at comparable prices, free hosts, and everytime it just doesn’t have the flexibility or convenience of Bluehost and Dreamhost. Free hosts want to add their ads on your pages, and other low-priced hosts have more complicated user interfaces and fewer choices with their software auto-installer.

If you’re thinking about starting a website or a series of websites, check out Bluehost and Dreamhost - then do the research, check out the competition, see what the other customers have to say, and then remember my advice: These are the best hosts for new web publishers who want to write online without too much technical experience.

Sign Up Now for BlueHost Website Hosting or click here for my Dreamhost coupon list.