The Ingredients of a Website
Now that you know what sort of website you want to build, it’s time to get practical. Building a website isn’t just about picking a good design and writing solid content. You also need to coordinate with other companies to get your website onto the World Wide Web (and give it a catchy address, like www.StylinViolins.com).
This quick shopping list maps out what every website needs—and tells you where you’ll learn about it in the rest of this book:
Web pages. Every website is made up of individual pages. To create a basic web page, you need to understand HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the language of the Web. You’ll create your first web page in the next chapter.
Web space. Creating web pages is fun, but for other people to see them, you need to put them on a web server. In Chapter 3, you’ll consider your options for getting your first web page online, either through a fee-based service or a free alternative.
A domain name. There’s a world of difference between the website address www.inetConnections.com/Users/~jMallone012/web and www.JackieMallone.com. You can get your own personalized domain name, if it’s available. It’s not free, but it’s not expensive, either—about $10 or $15 a year. If you want to put your website address on a business card or a brochure for a small business, your own domain name is really the best choice. In Chapter 3, you’ll learn how to buy one.
Note
The domain name is the first part of a web address, which identifies the web server ...