Our first site was done about fifteen years ago. We were homeschooling at the time and our daughters wanted to start a business. We decided to let them do so and built a site for them.
At the time, the only tool we had was MicroSoft Frontpage. It took about six weeks, and at times it was extremely frustrating. For me, it was a totally new experience, looking for the products and codes we needed. However, in the end, the site turned out very well, and the kids sold a lot of catnip filled “mousies.”
Now that the kids are grown and on their own, I wanted to do something to start earning income. I’d been a Master Herbalist for three years, and I wanted to share what I’d learned. We hired a mentoring service to help us.
Tip 1) Do it all or get help? One of the first things we had to decide was whether we would do the entire web design on our own or hire it done. After some thought, we decided to have the basics of the site done by someone else, then take over.
Tip 2) Always back things up: Even then, we had a lot to learn. The tool we had to work with was called Dreamweaver. If you are visually impaired, this can be a nightmare to work with; one little mistake and major parts of your site cease to function. Thank God for backups and templates…
Tip 3) Knowledge before hand is better than after: It helped when we got a book that explained how to work with the program. If you are starting from zero knowledge like we did, I recommend you find a good book on whichever program you’re going to use…before you start using it.
Tip 4) Find a program that suits your needs: Our second site, the one I spend more time working with and on, is a WordPress site. We had a couple of basic things done professionally (graphic art and I don’t mix well), then we took over. It has been so easy!
Whenever I want to make a page, I can start in my word processing program. Once I’ve gotten the information I want down, I open up the site, click on “add page,” copy and paste. I can then work with fonts and graphics inside the page. No code to mess up, and it’s all wysiwyg. There is also a lot of support and plug ins for every need we’ve come up with.
Tip 5) Websites are never really finished: Updating your site is an ever present need. Adding fresh content, deleting old content and making sure you provide the best experience possible for your guests is as important as getting the site up and running in the beginning.
Working with web sites used to be something that had me cringing. I was afraid I’d really mess up and then require someone with more expertise to fix the problem. However, that’s no longer the case. With support and the proper tools, I can do it on my own. If I can, you can, too.