|
|
No Expense Websites
|
Here are the steps to take when publishing your website. If you feel you can pay for a few extra goodies, then scroll down to "Some Expense" and follow those instructions.
Step 1: Get an ISP provider. ISP stands for Internet Service Provider and it is the place where your files are visible on the internet and where you "connect" your website to the internet. Most ISPs also give you a couple MB (megabytes) of website space for free. There's usually a limitation in the number of megabytes that a user can download from your site (if you have a lot of large graphics, you can usually only have a few visitors a day). Also, you don't normally get to pick your own domain name (a domain name is something like www.yourwebsite.com).
Links to good ISPs:
Geocities
Verizon Online
Comcast
NetZero
Angelfire
Tripod
Step 2: Upload your files through a tool on your ISP's website. Make sure the ISP you use has this capability.
Step 3: Publicize your website. There are three ways to do this, and you can do just one or all three.
- One way is to create and edit <meta> tags on your webpage. This is so search engines will know what your site is about. Some search engines will find your webpage automatically when you have <meta> tags, but some won't. To do this, add two <meta> tags to the header section of your webpage between the </title> and </head> closing tags. There is no closing <meta> tag.
The first <meta> tag uses up to 200 characters to give a description of your webpage. Search engines often provide this description when returning the results of a search.
The second <meta> tag uses up to 1000 characters to list keywords which describe your webpage. Search engines like dogpile use these keywords to find your site.
My <meta> tags for my jewelry site look like this:
<meta name="description" content="Unique Handcrafted Earrings, Bracelets, Anklets, and Necklaces">
<meta name="keywords" content="jewelry, handmade jewelry, handmade, handcrafted jewelry, handcrafted, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, chokers, sets, jewelry sets, linkware, graphics, websets, piano, bassoon, bassoon player, piano player, bassoonist, pianist, faery feather jewelry, faery feather, faery, feather, Heather, Hoaglund-Biron, Hoaglund, Biron, jewlry, jewellery, jewellry, jewel, jewely">
- Submit your website to search engines who require it. Some search engines use robots that search for websites on your search query. But, some don't use robots and you have to submit your website to them to have it show up. One example of this is Yahoo. Find that section of the search engine's site and fill out the form.
- Join a webring for your site's topic. For instance, if you have a site on homemade jewelry, you would search different homemade jewelry websites and see if they are part of a webring. If so, find the main webring website and join.
|
|
|
Some Expense
|
This section is for when your site is big enough for you to be willing to pay a little. These types of websites are usually for small to medium sized businesses.
Step 1: Find an ISP that you can buy webspace from. These can include databases, large MB space, and large visitor downloads. Look for the "Web Hosting" link on these websites.
Links to good ISPs:
Seanet
Bravenet
Fortune City
If these don't help, search for "web hosting" on the internet.
Step 2: Purchase an FTP upload tool. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and it's a way to transfer files from your computer to the webhost's computer. Some ISPs provide you with one, but if you want more control over how your website files are organized, purchase one. FrontPage and Dreamweaver have it built in. Search download.com for FTP tools, or search it for WS_FTP or CuteFTP (which I recommend).
Step 3: (This is the same as before, but I'll repeat it) Publicize your website. There are three ways to do this, and you can do just one or all three.
- One way is to create and edit <meta> tags on your webpage. This is so search engines will know what your site is about. Some search engines will find your webpage automatically when you have <meta> tags, but some won't. To do this, add two <meta> tags to the header section of your webpage between the </title> and </head> closing tags. There is no closing <meta> tag.
The first <meta> tag uses up to 200 characters to give a description of your webpage. Search engines often provide this description when returning the results of a search.
The second <meta> tag uses up to 1000 characters to list keywords which describe your webpage. Search engines like dogpile use these keywords to find your site.
My <meta> tags for my jewelry site look like this:
<meta name="description" content="Unique Handcrafted Earrings, Bracelets, Anklets, and Necklaces">
<meta name="keywords" content="jewelry, handmade jewelry, handmade, handcrafted jewelry, handcrafted, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, chokers, sets, jewelry sets, linkware, graphics, websets, piano, bassoon, bassoon player, piano player, bassoonist, pianist, faery feather jewelry, faery feather, faery, feather, Heather, Hoaglund-Biron, Hoaglund, Biron, jewlry, jewellery, jewellry, jewel, jewely">
- Submit your website to search engines who require it. Some search engines use robots that search for websites on your search query. But, some don't use robots and you have to submit your website to them to have it show up. One example of this is Yahoo. Find that section of the search engine's site and fill out the form.
- Join a webring for your site's topic. For instance, if you have a site on homemade jewelry, you would search different homemade jewelry websites and see if they are part of a webring. If so, find the main webring website and join.
|
|
|
|
