First Step in Web Weaving

So you browse the net! Now you have decided to have a web presence. Well Welcome!

The web is a communication media. Thus people have sites for expressing one's views to the world, to expose one's talents to the world, etc. On that subject you should have rich content. Once you have the content, you can boldly start placing your feet on the web.

The second step is to 'web-enable' the content. The web understands the open language (not proprietary of any company) HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is basically a page description language. It is easy to learn, You may opt to skip this learning process (there are many WYSIWYG HTML editors). But this may prove costly in the long run…

Once you pass the second stage, you can start experimenting with design. If you have more than five pages you should also design a proper easy to use navigation system. It is always better to use pencil and paper to design the structure of your site.

The next stage is a testing and optimization stage. You should check whether your HTML is error free, whether it displays well in popular browsers in different platforms, whether all links work. You should also compress and optimize your graphic files so that, they load quickly.

Once you have successfully crossed all the above stages, you are ready to upload your pages to the net. For this you will have to buy some web space and register your domain name. Another option is to subscribe to a free web space provider. Once you have subscribed/ bought, you will be given the following details: -

1. FTP URL
2. User name
3. Password

Use these details to log in to your site using a FTP software. FTPExplorer is a popular FTP software for Windows. Also the command- line utility FTP.exe is bundled with DOS.

Once your site is uploaded, you can view it through the browser. Just type your domain name or the address given by your free space provider.

Your uploaded site is viewable by any one. But how will people come to know about your site? So the last stage in this odyssey is site promotion. This usually involves submitting to search engines, putting banners in other sites putting your URL in your visiting cards etc. For accessing some of the services mentioned above, visit indiWiz. com's directory of web development resources. Here you have a separate section on web promotion.

Your journey does not stop here. A successful web site is one that is constantly updated with good content and whose name is splashed on your face now and then. These steps become a cyclic process with continuous updating.