The Untangling of the Web In the Internet age of today, it seems like everyone has a web site on the Internet. I use the Internet almost every day, and I wonder, how are all of these sites built? There are millions and millions of sites that have all been made using this process.
Creating a web site is not as hard as it appears. The steps to creating, publishing, and maintaining a web site are simple if followed correctly. An Internet web site can be created through registering a domain name, purchasing the appropriate software, actual creation and design of the site, implementing security features, publishing the site, and maintaining and updating the site as necessary. The creation of a web site begins with getting a space on the Internet to display the production. Reserving a space on the Internet can be compared to renting an apartment: paying rent, utilities, and paying a security deposit are required for the space. Acquisition of the space can occur several different ways.
Web sites such as www.register.com offer web page space on the Internet for the fairly inexpensive price of thirty-five dollars for a one year agreement. Registering for this space is very similar to a lease agreement that would be signed for an apartment.
Every year the contract can be renewed and the Internet space will remain with the owner. If a two, five, or ten year agreement is chosen, then the price will increase accordingly. Space on the Internet can also be acquired through an Internet Service Provider. Often times with an Internet Service Provider, space is limited, and the service fee is greatly increased compared with purchasing space through an existing web site.
After space is purchased for the web site, the design stage of creation begins. The next step to web site creation is to purchase the appropriate computer software so that the design of the web site will be simple and easy to accomplish. This software can be purchased at any computer or electronics variety store. At these stores, top name brand software can be found for discounted prices. Some brand name software to look for is Macromedia, Adobe, and Microsoft. Each of these companies make software that is easy to use and can produce beautiful web sites.
The software produced by these companies is used as general web site design tools and do not really provide features for developing business web sites. For business that are considering developing a web site there is specialty software available that focuses on e-commerce, animation and movies, and incorporating such things as chat and message boards into the web site. This software tends to be more expensive because of its specialty nature. The software can determine whether the site will look beautifully designed or thrown together in ten minutes. The actual design process of the web site is the most important step in having a successful web site. The colors, backgrounds, images, and text that are chosen will either attract visitors or repel them.
Web sites can be laid out in one of two ways, using a frameset or using a scrolling page layout. A scrolling page layout consists of one main page that serves as the navigational point for the entire site. A frameset page consists of several pages that are laid into a type of blue print that divides what the visitor sees into sections, each section containing one page. Color schemes and backgrounds are also very important in the design process.
Using bright loud colors such as yellow and pink as background colors might discourage the visitor from staying at the site. Subtle colors such as earth tones, and the traditional white background demonstrate professionalism in the site. The purpose of a web site is to present information in a clean and professional way. Bright colors, blinking text, large images, and attention getting backgrounds often take away from the content and the web site loses its value. If loud colors must be used, use them sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.
Content is defined as the information that is being presented by the web site and is the most important thing in a web site. The data is what should stand out about the site. When presenting information, the content should make the visitors eyes roll down the page and follow the information. The most important information should be in a larger font because it will grab the visitors attention first before anything else.
Everything else should be presented in a smaller font. After designing something that is satisfying to potential visitors, the security of the design must be determined. Making a web site secure is of the utmost significance if the web site is based on e-commerce or any sort of business being transacted. Security on the Internet can be attained by using a firewall to protect against leaks of information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and bank account numbers. According to The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Online at http://encarta.msn.
com a firewall is defined as a device that blocks unauthorized access to an organizations local area network that is exposed to the Internet. What that mean is that a firewall is just what it sounds like. It is a wall between the Internet and local files on a computer. Firewalls protect against computer fraud, identity fraud, hackers, and viruses. Any one of these threats can single handedly bring down a web site that is not protected. A firewall can be bought just like software, but generally is very expensive depending on the level of security desired.
Usually professional installation of a firewall is required, and is recommended for any organization contemplating transacting business over the Internet. A firewall will ensure the security that is needed to publish the site on the Internet. Publishing the completed web site is probably the easiest step in the entire process. Publishing the site will make it available to users all over the world to view.
Publishing the site means that it will be uploaded to the organization where the space was purchased. Uploading is defined as transferring the completed web site from a local computer onto an Internet server. After uploading the site to the server the work is essentially done. The only step left is to maintain the site and do updates accordingly. Maintaining a web site includes making changes to reflect new information and possibly changing the style of the site to fit a modern outlook.
To update the site the local files and original web site design on a personal computer are altered to fit the new look. Once finished with alterations the site is simply re-uploaded to the server, and the changes will take effect immediately. Every time the site is updated the same process is followed. All of the millions of web sites were made using this process. The procedure of creating a web site is not as hard as it appears.
If these steps are followed a beautiful web site is the result. As these steps show, a web site can be created by anyone and it seems that everyone has a web site on the Internet. If something is felt to be important enough to display to everyone, than a web site should be created for it.
