Back in lesson 23 I talked about why you need to have your own website.
Since then, we’ve covered several of the prerequisites for having a website (getting a domain, hosting, etc). Today we’re going to talk about your options for building a website, and then we’re going to make it a reality.
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
IMPORTANT: I did not mention this in the video, because it sort of goes without saying. But I think I may need to offer this reminder:
A website does not constitute a business. It is an essential component of your business, but it is not a business by itself.
So please keep that in mind throughout the next several lessons as we focus on building your website.
– Getting your website online is a milestone
– You can start marketing it before the product is done
1) Build it from scratch (using a web language like HTML)
Do you need to know HTML to be an internet marketer? No, but it can be very helpful.
2) Use a web authoring program (ex. An HTML editor such as FrontPage)
WYSIWYG = What You See is What You Get (ex. NVU)
3) Use a template or site builder (ex. HostGator’s site builder)
Template = shortcut
My favorite site builder for non-techies: XSitePro
4) Use a script or CMS (ex. WordPress)
Great website script for internet marketers: Butterfly Marketing
Forums: phpBB, Vbulletin, etc.
WordPress: my favorite free publishing application
5) Outsource it (pay someone else to do it for you)
Action step:
1) Choose a method that you will use to build your website
Think about all these options, do some research if you need to, and choose ONE to start with. We’ll start building your website in the next lesson.
By the way, if you DO have a website already… be sure comment and let us know what worked or didn’t work well for you!
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂
Have a great day!
Yes it is very helpful to know some html, even using an editor. I find myself frequently tweaking FrontPage generated code. I wanted to mention that Elizabeth Castro writes very easy to read books on html and other programming languages. I have one of her early html books from 1998 and still refer to it. It’s filled with examples and visual illustrations.
Question about Hostgator: if I use one of their templates to build a site, can I add a phpBB forum with that template?
Yes and no. Technically you can add a phpBB forum to any site. However, the forum would not look like the rest of the template unless you did some considerable “skinning” of the forum template files (you could probably have it done for under $100 on rentacoder). So it just depends on whether you want it all match seamlessly or if you don’t care if the forum looks different from the rest of the site.
Hi! Eric, great to have you back,
Lesson 27, is clear and useful. I am just a little above this level. I built a couple of websites up till now, but in the last week I learn to use WordPress. I have built a Blog with WordPress for the first time. (Up till now I used only blogger.com)
Now I use Fantastico from my cPanel, and it was so easy to start. To keep adding staff is different, but the creation was so simple, it looks ridiculous that I didn’t do it up till now.
By the way I discovered how to make the Blog “DoFollow”; it is a plug-in we need to upload, I did it.
The Blog is generic under a domain which is my name, and is about Internet and Affiliate Marketing in general, was done to learn, and has nothing to do with my next product. I’ll build other websites for that product.
Anyway, I like you to look it over for a minute and please do any critic you consider that is useful for me, because this was the purpose of it all, to learn how to use WordPress effectively and learn how to create a good blog:
http://michaelacernescu.com
Now when you said “we will build a Website for the product”, you mean: a blog, a squeeze and/or landing page or a membership site in which we will pre-sell/review/handle affiliates and so on, anything under the sun related with the next product we are working on.
Thanks and I am grateful that we continue our lessons.
Michaela
I think your WordPress blog looks good 🙂
It’s a nice theme. The one thing I would caution about is be careful about putting too many ads and widgets in the sidebars of your blog. A lot of new bloggers take their example from the famous bloggers like John Chow and they think it will make their blog look more professional if it has a bunch of “stuff” on it.
But I think the truth is that most readers just want a clean interface with few distractions from the content. Only if you have a loyal following will they be willing to put up with all the stuff. I don’t think yours is too extreme, but the combination of many colors and several ads/widgets does make it look a bit busy. Of course not everyone has to be a minimalist or make their blog boring colors like mine, but the key to keep in mind is that when it comes to blogs–the content must be the focus.
hey Eric. These lessons are great. I look forward to the next one.
As far as free HTML editors, i suggest KompoZer. The NVU project finished a while back: 1.0 was released on June 28, 2005. Since July 2006, open source development continues under the project KompoZer.
cheers.
thanks for the heads up on KompoZer, I’ll definitely check that out.
Thank you Eric, You are right:
1) more content will follow, I just started from a week or so and I’ll keep going adding content
2) I was thinking to have a new page “Recommended” or something like this and put all the affiliate links there, because in time the affiliate links will increase and even now I didn’t put all of them because I didn’t have enough time. I’ll definitely create a page for it, and who wants to look it over will open it, the people who aren’t interested… they won’t. It is fair, and a page named “recommended” is avis what will get on it.
I like the theme as well; I have a single problem unsolved. From time to time I need to collapse the 2 site bars in just one, I don’t know how to do it, is it a plug-in for it? or is it a property of the theme itself?, you have it or you don’t! I saw a lot of examples of collapsing site bars in other Blogs but I have no idea how is done.
Thanks a lot
Michaela
The biggest obstacles are often the smallest obstacles–well, that sounds silly but we make the proverbial mountain out of a molehill by thinking that the website is the hardest part of getting online. It actually is so easy–that is once you know how! The harder parts come after that. My easy method? Check it out here:
http://www.pappashop.com/whmcs/aff.php?aff=053
or go to my blog for more:
http://www.How2BooksandVideos.com
Thanks Eric, you make it easier to move along with confidence.
Jay
Creating Web sites can be very frustrating and time consuming if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’ve tried both Frontpage and NVU and there is a learning curve. I’ve used a template and just played around with it mainly in the WYSISYG editor and then look at the HTML code. It’s still something that I need to really take time to learn. I agree with you that it’s a good idea to know this stuff.
WordPress has many plusses but it to can be improved by learning how to tweak it. I’m having some troble adding a email subscription form because I want to add a picture of a free ebook or video. I’m almost there now.
Sometimes I worry too much about the look of my site to the point that I’ve been delaying updating the content.
I’m learning and realize that it’s not an overnight thing. The good thing is that once we get it down the next niche site will be that much easier.
Thanks for the lesson – nice to see you back
Sorry for the double post but I came accross a video that I beleive your readers will enjoy.
I posted it to my site http://reachsuccessonline.com/ you may have seen it already it’s called The Validation Movie
Hi Eric,
Me,I prefer WP and Dreamweaver…
About Butterfly Marketing-are you used it?
If “yes”,can you show me this link?
Thanks again,
Andy
I have done web design for many years, and have used frontpage and several others only to find that for the beginner when I am teaching the best tool for beginners can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/5ldwpr
and I use it myself EVERY day to get professional looking results. Using Fantastico is good for beginners, but watch out for a security loop when doing this. Take a look at a post from my friend Michael Savoie that teaches you how to get around the fantastico security loop at: http://michealsavoie.com/welcome/index.php/2008/11/21/fixing-the-fantastico-security-flaw/ he is AWESOME at blogging.
Eric….thanks for letting me in on your lessons. Joel Comm talks highly of you all the time! YOU ROCK and always provide good quality information to your readers. Great Job!
Watch for me soon at thesiteteacher.com!
Even tho I’m an HTML programmer, I also use xsitepro. I don’t really care how the wysiwyg stuff works, but it’s great for navigation and headers and footers, plus it’s got great SEO help. Learning some HTML is useful too. You can use my free guides on http://www.Myminisites.net.
Eric, thanks for your Tips! You Rock!
Eric,
Soooo glad to have you back. I know you have been busy. I am using WordPress for both of my websites. I would like your honest opinion on them so if you would please go to http://www.efficaciousearnings.com and http://www.thesanctuarynow.com please leave comment on blogs. I’m not too sure of the Internet marketing blog anymore, I have hit a rut and I am a bit discouraged. Internet marketing blogs come a dime a dozen and I dont know what I was thinking when I chose that niche. I feel like a little bitty worm on a really big hook! Anyway, I am really excited about the Sanctuary. I have big ideas for it. I wanted to initially do something in the religion niche but chose the Internet marketing instead, I believe God is trying to tell me something. I was going to ask you, before in one of your lessons you said that we should not worry about our first niche choice because we would not be married to it, so what do you think I should do about my Internet marketing blog, should I keep going or should I give it up? Please let me know what you think. Your lessons are always great. Thank you so much
Melissa
Thanks for the video. I used Dreamweaver to create my site but there’s so much in that program that I still need to learn. Education and practice is the key. I’m considering taking a course to learn more
Did you create this video with C6.0?
I just upgraded to C6.0 and mess around with all the features.
Wonder how to optimize filesizes, please tell us, how you create your videos.
Obviously you use powerpoint? Recorded directly (have some resolution probs)or with images of the slides, more flexibility?
The Camtasia tutorials are good, but your advice would be better!
I have been for almost three years doing things on the internet.
But have been mostly jumping around things.
I have been for over almost two years building a site. Since the hosting package is a biz opp in MLM.
It has taken me months to learn the basics of using SohoLaunch Site Builder (the WYSIWYG thing).
Now the host provider has changed to RV Site Builder (supposedly it is easier to use and more up to date).
Now I don’t want to mess things up.
I have not been good using FTP software.
How can I transfer my Website from Soho to RV without damaging things?
Sincerely,
Antonios
Fixearnings
Hello Eric, good to see you back. I have been learning a lot online but you are so easy to learn from. Happy Holidays all.
Hrml ia fun to learn to especially when you get into css and java
Hey Eric,
Here’s a quote:
“Sabrina, YOU are the weakest link in your own company.”
You know the guy who would dare say such a thing to my face…and you know why he said it don’t you?
Just to let your readers in on the conversation, it was you, Eric Holmlund who told me that a few years back. To tell you the truth, it kinda hurt my pride to hear that, but you were right.
My absolute, stubborn refusal to even learn HTML was holding my whole company back from reaching any significant online goals.
I outsourced everything – and justified it saying that I was maximizing my strengths by outsourcing my weaknesses. A brilliant strategy IF it really works like that. And in my case, it hadn’t because we had been in the red for three straight years, spending far more than we made.
Next Quote:
“An ignorant person in charge is a liability to the entire organization.” -That’s a Sabrina original quote.
The fact that I couldn’t even spell HTML prevented so many things from getting done, moving forward, etc.
Finally, out of desperation, I decided I’d take your advice and enroll my lazy (or shall I say overwhelmed) self in some community college “web design” classes.
Even though I never intended to ever design a website, (and still don’t, mind you) things really turned around once I had some understanding of what I was doing AND what I ought to be asking the people working for me to do. Just being able to speak the same language, and even pitch hit and do some things myself if a time-sensitive situation arises has been invaluable.
I still outsource almost everything technical…but now I can do it with a greater understanding of what’s involved.
My advice to the newbies and veterans is that you spend some time learning a bit about various programming languages, SEO, and design elements. It’ll only help you in the long run.
-Sabrina
Hello Eric,
I’m a beginner and I have a very basic question, what do I create first…a website or an squeeze or landing page?
Can’t figure it out, and I want to know before I pay for web hosting. Thank you.
Hello Eric,
A good tutorial. I do have some websites, created in net Objects Fusion version 9. In this I never have to use HTML, it is so easy to create a multi-page site. Just type in the text wherever you want it, and drop photos in anywhere as well.
The latest version 11 lets you set up a shopping cart, PayPal button etc.
No, I am not an affiliate for this product, just love it enough to pass it on to others.
Another of my sites is this one: http://hastingswatch.net
Thanks Eric, keep up the good work.
Jeff
Hi Eric,
I have used nvu in the past and know a little html, but I think XsitePro is a much easier way to go. It’s real easy to update your site, the training material is excellent and they have all the bells and whistles.
All these sites are mine and are created and maintained with XSitePro:
http://www.sullivansmountain.com/ (My new board game)
http://www.your-traffic-booster.com/ (An information site on how to get website traffic)
http://www.valleyministriesnz.org/ (A Christain Charitable Trust promoting the gospel message)
Kind comments welcome
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the great lesson. As Ian said abouve NVU is no longer available as I have found out just a few hours ago when in search of good software for newbies. The internet did recommend KompoZer in it’s place but I had lots of trouble downloading it for Vista 🙁 In the end I have resorted to using Trellion WebPage and so far so good. I just hope it will let me publish to Hostgator as I have found that many are only useful with their hosting services. Fingers Crossed!
eric,thanx..
Hi Eric,
Glad to have you back. I have been learning and using XSitepro. I am a newbie. Have been developing my website but have not posted it at this time. My site will be used to promote my existing business and to try and create additional revenue selling information and products in the healing profession. I have to say your recommendation of Xsitepro has been easy to use and understand so far and will be my program of choice to use.
From your last lesson I now have a business email address that is up and running and look forward to more of the lessons.
Thanks Mark
Hi Eric,
I have one other quick comment.
There is a free program that you can use for outlook that filters out spam if you do not have one at this time.
It is called SpamBayes. It is very user friendly.
I found the best way to teach it is to have it learn spam as you go.
Hope this may be of help.
Thanks Mark
I don’t know how to do a collapsing sidebar. What I usually do if I see something in a WP theme that I like, and if I don’t know how to do it, I’ll download that theme and look at the code until I figure it out.
Yes I have several sites running the Butterfly Marketing script. I haven’t updated them in almost 3 years, but they are still running and still grow daily. For example http://www.howtosellhosting.com
Your IM blog actually looks really cool. I would not give it up at this point, but maybe you could just post to it in your spare time. After all, you will be learning new internet marketing techniques for whatever business you are pursuing, so you might as well make use of your IM knowledge and post it to your blog. Who knows, in a few years it might get some traction and become more valuable. Just so it’s not disctracting you or taking time away from the aspects of your business that you want to focus on. Also I would put your opt-in form in the sidebar to maximize the list building capability of it. If you can pick up a few subscribers here and there, that could also pay off in the long run.
Actually I made this one in C3, but my next one will probably be in C6. I just started playing with C6 yesterday, and its pretty sweet. Instead of Powerpoint I actually use Impress, which is free from openoffice.org
I record it directly while I am talking.
As for optimizing file size, here are some things I do…
– make it smaller size. Even though I record almost my full screen, I shrink it down to about 600px wide in output.
-colors 16 bit
– Usually I use SWF.
– If there is very little motion (like this lesson) I leave the frame rate automatic. But if there’s a lot of motion I may slow down the frame rate to make the file smaller.
– Audio I’m using MP3, 22.050kHz, Stereo, 48kbps (I could do mono and make it slightly smaller, but I think this is a decent blend of quality vs size)
The video above for example is 15.5 minutes long, but is only 5.9MB
I am not familiar with RV site builder, but if your host is making the switch it would be nice if they would offer you the support to move your site to it 🙂
Cool Sabrina… I’m glad I said something right 😉
A squeeze page or a landing page is a part of a website. The website could consist of just a squeeze page or a landing page, or it may have many more pages.
In the case of landing pages for PPC, it is actually preferred by Google that you have a “real” website behind it, so I’d suggest starting off with a website focused on your topic, and then you can add squeeze pages and/or landing pages as needed.
Cool sites Ray, nice to see the examples of what you did with XSitePro
Actually NVU is still available, I just downloaded it yesterday from
http://net2.com/nvu/
But it looks like I’ll be doing a demo of KompoZer instead, as it is more up to date.
http://kompozer.net/download.php
Hi Eric,
I like your Tips and articles, it broadens my thinking in marketing and learning. look forward to all your tip and articles
yes, xsite pro does build really nice websites. they now have XHeader, too. It helps you build your header files.
I built my site http://www.jtcomputerservices.com with xsite pro. also built http://www.thesiteteacher.com with it as well
Hi Eric,
As you indicated the argument that IM’ers dont need tech skills such as HTML is appealling. The reality is of course that an net based based business DOES need those skills.
The question is how are they to be provided, by the owner him/herself personally, by outsourcing, by hiring employees?
Even if you outsource or hire employees you still need to know eneough to manage and supervise such relationships.
How will you know if you’re getting a job done well at a fair price if you dont understand the issues?
There are plenty of people willing to charge premium rates for relatively simple tasks.
Like most work at home types on a tight budget I have a ‘if I cant do it, then it dont get done attitude’.
Thankfully your videos help me to learn and aquire the skills I need.
Harry
Thanks,Eric!
You know,I’m sure,it was a trap question…
Sorry
Best Regards,
Andy
Hey Eric, I am learning. I want to be a webmaster so I need to know more about HTML. Thank you for the good info. God bless you.
Mary
I must say Eric well said. I personally use Xsitepro and it is amazing, if it was not for xsitepro I would never have been able to make so much progress with my site
This number 27 is the first of these lessons I have received. How can I get the other 26 lessons?
Hey Eric,
Thanks so much for the great lessons! You draw from so much experience.
I started using SBI for one year, then I broke away, learned a little html and redesigned my site. I also, like another commenter, used Nvu and Kompozer. While there are some neatness issues, they’re not bad because they’re free! Ad to that Gimp for doing your graphics and photo editing and you have a complete web developer’s suite — for free. Also, I often just resort to Notepad++ when I’ve just got to know what’s going on in the code and I feel the need for control over it.
WordPress has also been really fun. On a couple of sites I’ve combined a WordPress blog with my website. Php is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I can figure enough of it out to get along and make simple modifications. There’s a ton of help if you just Google WordPress with your problem. Somebody has also had it and has written about it.
Finally, there are a lot of great free tools, blogs and websites to help with CSS coding and design. My sites are probably not the best, but I don’t think I’ve done too bad being an amateur.
Thanks again
Pingback: LESSON #28: Building a Website With HTML | Eric’s Tips
Eric,
Thanks again for all the lessons. I already have a few niche’s in mind t make websites for and You have been a humongous help. I do have a question. I have been playing around with KompoZer but I am having trouble publishing my page. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I thought I was inserting the correct info for my publishing settings and address but dont seem to have it right. I am using HostGator (per your recommendation), I have been following along with your lessons and look forward to the next lesson. If you could please address this issue in your lesson regarding pulishing you page I am sure many would benifit.
Thanks again,
Tom 3
Hi Eric,
You are real knowledgeable man that we could learned from & there is not so many that we can find.
Thanks for the great lessons & we are sure many more to come. May you given good health always & too your love one.
Regards
Mohd
I did exactly as you said, I found one example and I looked to the code. I am so disappointed, they didn’t collapse anything, they have just one sidebar and within they use a table with border = 0, to make some portions to look as 2 sidebars. Very cheap shot!
Well, this is it! Now I am laughing!
Michaela
hay eric,
I just got on board with your lesson’s and I have a few Q for you I have a web site I got from john p from jump lanch I have two clickbank products and two blogger blogs one for each now i what to use wordpress becouse i dont seem to be gettig anything going useing blogger and with wordprees I would like to link it to my web site but I what to do more then one product sell do I need more the one web site,and I have a ton of resell rights stuff ebooks,audio videos ect .and 12 product web sites though your biz .com, anyway I guess I just have a overlosd going on ,but I really want to get something going on with all this I managed to get,just I’am haveing a hard getting started,so I’am hopeing going through your lessons will get me started thanks scott