A website is not complete without adding some graphics. Most websites use a header graphic at the top of the page. It is good to follow common practices when you design your own website. Just take a look at other popular websites to model how your website should look and feel.

Website navigation often involves graphic buttons. If you are selling products through your website, then you will also want to include photos of your products on your website. You are probably wondering how to create the graphics for your website.

Use a Digital Camera

My first recommendation is to get yourself a digital camera. You do not need to get a top of the line model. I am sure you can find a good camera in your price range if you look at your local electronics store. You can also use online comparison shopping websites to find a good digital camera for less money. Here are some links to popular websites for comparison shopping:

PriceWatch

PriceGrabber

NexTag

You can find many more by doing a Google Search for “comparison shopping”. After you get your digital camera you can start using it to take photos of everything. Just learn how to use the camera and practice by taking photos of your friends and family. Bright light can wash out your photo, but you can learn to correct for this by changing the angle of your shot or by getting above the horizontal plain. The flash can reflect back and give you a “hot spot” on the photo. You can correct this in the same way as mentioned for the bright light. Change your angle or rotate the camera horizontally.

Look online for tips and tricks for digital photography. Do a Google Search for “digital photography”. The important thing is to practice and get good at taking photos. Once you feel comfortable with your camera and can take good photos, then you can start taking photos for your website. Get photos of people to add to your website, because this gives your website a friendly feel. Get photos of your products.

Buy Royalty Free Photos

The best course is to take your own photos, because then you do not need to worry about copyright or royalty fees, etc. Most people are limited in their skills as a photographer or do not have access to scenes, props or people to get the photos they want for their website. Another alternative is to buy photos. Make sure you get Royalty Free photos and have the right to use the photo for your website. When you buy photos you typically have the right to use the photo for your own purposes, but do not have the right to sell or give away the photo in whole or in part.

You can do a Google Search for “royalty free photo” to find websites that sell downloadable photos. Shop around a bit, because some charge more then others for similar photos.

Photo Editing Software

Once you have your photos to work with, then you can use a photo editor to make changes to the size and shape of the photo or to fix some minor problems. There are many photo editors available that range in price from free to very expensive. GIMP is an open source image editor that is comparable to PhotoShop, but is free to download and to use. You can find many other photo editors by doing a Google Search for “photo editor” or “image editor”.

You can crop your photo to just show the part you want. You can fix minor problems such as brightness, red eyes, etc. You can make composite images from your photos by cutting and pasting. The possibilites are only limited by your ability and your imagination. Just like with the digital camera, you need to use the program and find out what it can do. Then you can practice and practice.

I wish you success in all your legitimate business ventures and in your every day life too!

Sincerely,

Jim Van Dyke

The King of Scripts

In the previous post we discussed the different types of scripting languages used to create a website. You can read this post by clicking on the following link:

How to Create a Website Using Scripting Languages

How Do You Use the Scripting Language to Create Your Website?

Websites are created one page at a time. In this example we will use HTML to create a website. It is always good to create a template to use for all of your web pages. Each web page will use the same basic design throughout your website. Once you create the first web page then you can copy it to create the next one and so on. As you create a new web page you will add the link for that web page in the navigation of each web page. There are some web pages that you will not have links on every page.

You can use MS Notepad to create your web pages if you know how to write HTML code. MS Notepad is a text editor and comes with Windows Operating System on most computers. I would not recommend this for your website. It is easier to use a What You See Is What You Get or WYSIWYG type editor. There are many available some are FREE and others are kind of expensive. One that I use is KompoZer, which is an upgrade of the original NVU HTML editor.

It is a good idea to create a Home Page with the index.html format and you can save this in a new folder with a unique name similar to your website URL. This will keep your website files in order and make them easy to find later. Your Home Page will have an address similar to the example below:

www.yourdomainname.com/index.html

After you finish creating your Home Page, then you can save it. A great way to create your next web page is to use the Save As function and save the webpage with a new name. This is how you can create a new web page with the template that is your Home Page. It is a good idea to use SEO techniques for all other web pages that you create for your website. This means that you want to save your webpage with a name that uses the keyword or key phrase that you select for the web page. You can follow this example:

www.yourdomain.com/keyword.html

or

www.yourdomain.com/key-phrase.html

You can use hyphens or underscores to separate the words in your web page name as shown above. You could also just join the words together without using hyphens or underscores. The choice is yours and is really a matter of what looks better to you.

How Do You Get Your Web Pages On the Internet?

You need to have a web hosting account in order to have your own website. You can use a free service, but I would recommend using a paid account. A free account is limited in function and the amount that you can change to make your website unique. There are many more reasons to get a paid account and you can read these in some of my previous posts.

I use two web host providers. This website is hosted with Site 5 Web Hosting and they offer some very good packages. You can check out their packages by following the link. I also use IX Web Hosting for another website. They offer some good packages as well and are a better choice if you want to host more then one website on the same account. You can check out their packages by following the link.

You also need to select a domain name for your website. Once you have selected a domain name and set up your web hosting account, then you can upload your website to the web host server. You can upload the files you created and your graphic files to your server through the CPanel provided by your web hosting provider. If you are uploading a large number of files, then you may want to use an FTP program to do this. I used a free program in the past, but it is no longer free. I will post an alternative FTP program when I find one that I like.

After the files are uploaded to the web host server, then your website is active. You should check out the website to make sure all your links work. You also want to make sure the graphics are displayed and your web pages look the way you want. I suggest using a few web browsers to check out your website. I recommend Internet Explorer, FireFox, and Apple Safari. These are the most commonly used in the order given.

Check out tomorrow’s post to find out how to create graphics for your website.

I wish you success in all your legitimate business ventures and in your every day life too!

Sincerely,

Jim Van Dyke

The King of Scripts

I have a little saying that bears repeating here. “Easy is what you know!” You may come from a background of computer illiteracy. You may never have seen computer code or even know what binary is. The scripting languages used to create websites may sound like alphabet soup to you. Even if this is your case you can still learn enough to create your own website.

There are literally volumes of books devoted to the different scripting languages used to create websites. I can not possibly cover even one scripting language in much detail on a single post. The intent is to help you realize that even with a basic understanding you can still create your own website.

The type of web hosting you use will determine the type or types of scripting languages you can use for your website. Most web host servers will function with HyperText Mark-up Language or HTML, because this is a fairly common language. You can create some decent websites with just HTML. You can tell if a web page is using just HTML, because the web page address will look like this:

www.domainname.com/pagename.html

or

www.domainname.com/pagename.htm

Another very common scripting language is PHP. The original language was called Personal Home Page, and this is where PHP comes from. The current name is Hypertext Pre-Processor, but PHP is still used as the acronym. This scripting language is best used on a Linux based server, because the Linux server will be able to use all of the PHP capabilities. Windows based servers can only use limited PHP scripts. You can tell if a web page is using PHP, because the web page address will look like this:

www.domainname.com/webpage.php

Windows based servers are best suited to run Active Server Pages or ASP. This is Microsoft’s dynamic scripting language. If you go to Microsoft’s website you can see many web pages that use ASP and other windows based scripting languages. You can tell if a web page is using ASP, because the web page address will look like this:

www.domainname.com/webpage.asp

or

www.domainname.com/webpage.aspx

These are the most common web page scripting languages. Other scripting languages can be used on a web page by using markers within the web page script that calls specific functions of the scripting language. Javascripts is a scripting language that has become very useful online for creating audio and video components on a web page.

There are many more scripting languages used to create web pages and to add functionality or usability to web pages. Now that you have a basic understanding of the common scripting languages you are ready to move on to the next step of website creation. Check out tomorrow’s post for the continuation of this series.

I wish you success in all your legitimate business ventures and in your every day life too!

Sincerely,

Jim Van Dyke

The King of Scripts

Have you ever thought about getting your own website? What is preventing you from getting your own website? Do you believe that you lack the skills? Maybe you just do not know how easy it is to get your own website.

Free Options

There are some free options that you can use to get your own website, webpage or a Blog. A fairly new website is Weebly and you can create a free website and/or Blog through their easy to use web creation interface. Once you create a free account then the rest is explained as you go. This is a really easy way to create a website or a Blog.

Squidoo is a free Social Media website that hosts user submitted content. You can create hosted webpages that do not cost you anything to create or host. This webpage is called a lens. You can make money with this webpage through Google AdSense, Amazon, eBay and other Affiliate Programs. Google AdSense will always be part of your webpage. You can add the others or choose not to have any, except Google AdSense. You can also choose to donate the money from your webpage to a variety of charities. Check out one of my own lens The Power Is in Your List – How to Build Your List

HubPages is a free Social Media website that hosts user submitted content. You can create hosted webpages that do not cost you anything to create or host. This webpage is called a hub. You can make money with this webpage through Google AdSense, Amazon, eBay and other Affiliate Programs.

A Blog is a word that comes from two words web log, and is a log about you or anything you wish to write about. Some people use a Blog as an online diary. If you decide to do this, then make sure you do not give out personal information. A Blog is usually open for anyone to read. You can use a Blog to promote your product or service. You can also promote Affiliate products and services.

Google owns Blogger, which is a free Blogging website. You can create and host your Blog for free through this website. The creation tools are very easy to use and you should not have any problems creating your Blog posts. There is some help on the website if you have any problems.

WordPress is a free Blogging website. You can create and host your Blog for free through this website. WordPress has a few extra features that make this a better choice.

Other Options

It really is better to have your own website with a unique domain name that sets your website apart from the other websites on the Internet. Having your own website looks more professional and there are many benefits too. Most web hosting companies give you email accounts with your domain name. Which looks better to email your customers?

joe12345@fremail.com

yourname@yourdomain.com

Most people would think the last email address would look more professional and would want to do business with you. Image is everything today. Also which website address would look more professional?

www.yourname.freeaccount.com

www.freeaccount.com/yourname/

www.yourdomain.com

The first two are examples of website addresses through a free account and the last one is through a paid web host account. Most people would think the last one looks more professional. If you can spot the free hosting account, then so will your visitors.

I personally use and recommend two web hosting companies, IX Web Hosting and Site 5 Web Hosting. You will find that it will not cost as much as you may think to get your very own web hosting account and domain name. Most web hosting companies will give you one domain name as part of their package. You can find more web hosting companies by doing a Google search for “web hosting”.

Most web hosting companies also provide server side website creation tools as part of the package. Most of these tools are easy to use. You can also buy software to create your website on your personal computer and then upload the files to your web host server.

I have created a guide that you will find very useful as you create your website. This is a step by step guide that will walk you through the whole process. From domain name selection, starting your web hosting account, setting up your email accounts, designing your website, creating your website and uploading your website to your web host server. This guide will also help you to make money with your website.

To find out about this website you will want to click on this link. FREE Report You will receive a FREE report that will give you 20 surefire techniques to make money with your own website, and you will receive a home study course delivered to your email account over the next 80 plus days. This course is valued at over $297, but you will get it all for FREE! When you confirm your email address you will be taken to a webpage that will give you more information about this great offer mentioned in the previous paragraph.

You do not want to miss out on the FREE information that you will receive. All you have to do is click the link. FREE Report

I wish you success in all your legitimate business ventures and in your every day life too!

Sincerely,

Jim Van Dyke

The King of Script

I have several websites that are general in nature and therefore a wide range of topics. I see many other websites that have a similar wide range of topics. For Search Engine Optimization (SEO) you need to have a more narrow range of topics that are closely related.

You can still create a website with a wide range of topics. You need to create sections for your website and you need to group closer related topics together in the group. I can illustrate this with the example of a pet supply website. Your home page will be used to link all parts of your website together. Your home page address should look like this:

www.your-domain-name.com/index.html

The pet supplies should then be grouped in general groups based on animal type. The main page for the general group will then link to all parts of the general group. Let’s look at dog supplies for example. The main page address for the dog supplies should look like this:

www.your-domain-name/dog/index.html

The dog supplies should then be grouped in more specific groups based on the type of dog supply. The main page for the specific groups will then link to all parts of the specific group. Let’s look at dog collars for example. The main page address for the dog collars should look like this:

www.your-domain-name/dog/dog-collars/index.html

You could create more specific groups depending on the amount of information available for the specific groups. The main page of the more specific group would then link to all parts of the more specific group. Let’s look at small dog collars for example. The main page address for the small dog collars should look like this:

www.your-domain-name/dog/dog-collars/small-dog-collars/index.html

This may seem like a lot of work, but the boost in your Search Engine Optimization and the resulting higher page ranking with the search engines will make it worth your time and effort. What this does for you is create mini websites on your complete website. Each part would be closely related in topic and would then be viewed as an information authority by the search engines.

All webpages in a group should link to other pages in the group and to the main webpage for the group. This makes the main webpage in each group the hub for the group. This makes your website more organized for the search engine to crawl your website and provides the internal link structure that is necessary for search engine crawling and logging of your website.

The best time to do the structuring of your website is when you are building it. It will require a complete overhaul if you wait until after the website is created.

You can see a live demonstration of this website structure at the following website:

http://www.info-4-prosperity.com

http://www.info-4-prosperity.com/info.html

http://www.info-4-prosperity.com/inform/budgeting/index.php

http://www.info-4-prosperity.com/videos.html

http://www.info-4-prosperity.com/Videos/College_Road_Trip/index.php

Notice how the structure is similar to the pet supply website example. You can use this structure for any type of website that you are designing.

Would you like to add to your website? There are complete website packages available for you to download in the membership area of this website. You can see what the packages look like on live websites by clicking on this link and then clicking on the links for the specific package that you are interested in seeing.

There are many more digital products available for download with Resell Rights, Master Resell Rights, or Private Label Rights. These products can be sold for 100% profit. You can sign up for membership and start downloading immediately after your payment is processed and you have confirmed your information.

The key to Search Engine Optimization is to implement the structure when you are designing your website.

I wish you success in all your legitimate business ventures and in your every day life too!

Sincerely,

Jim Van Dyke

The King of Scripts