HTML code, search engine optimisation, page ranking, domain names, crawlers, reciprocal linking - these were terms related to web site construction, which just a few months ago meant absolutely nothing to me. I had wanted to put together a web site for a long time and had various ideas for what the content might be, but I was always put off by the jargon and the thought that it would be difficult and time-consuming to acquire the technical knowledge to do it. I could not have been more wrong. If you have an idea in mind for a web site about Greece, why not start working on it now? Creating a web site was much easier than I had imagined. I had always admired friends who were IT professionals and had taught themselves strange sounding programming languages such as HTML, XML, and Java script, from textbooks and thought it was not for me. But one day, I decided to at least have a go after a friend persuaded me that HTML code was very easy to learn - they were right! I picked it up very easily and use it throughout this web site. HTML is not the most sophisticated programming language and the site has a bit of a “home-made” feel to it at the moment, but it does the job for which it was intended and I like it. The great thing about HTML and other languages around, is that you can learn either a little or a lot. As I continue to learn more HTML, I will tweak this site here and there to improve it. For example, online forms which you can use to send information directly to the webmaster, rather than using e-mail, are still eluding me a little bit, but I’ll get there soon when I’ve worked out what ASP and a CGI are! There are several important steps that you will need to go through in order to make your Greece web site a success - they are set out below. Creating Content Once you have decided what you want to have on your web site, you will need to create the content. This can be split into two parts: the information you wish to provide to your readers and the design of the site. You can use any one of a range of available Web content publishing tools and graphic editing tools, which will help you do much of the work of producing your web pages, or you can edit the content and design yourself by using a text editor and learning HTML, as I have. Publishing your Content Once you have completed your web site, you will need to upload it to a web server. There are many web server services on offer. These range from free services which will allow you to have just a single web page, to paid services which will host a sizeable web site with the domain name (i.e. web site internet address) of your choice and several e-mail accounts, for a monthly fee. There is great competition between these services, so it is worth spending a little time comparing the price and what they offer. Publicise Your Site When your site is up and running, you should publicise it so that people know it is there. The most common way to do this is to submit your site to search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, and Internet directories. This is usually easily done via an online form on their respective web sites. You can look for other web sites, with a similar theme to your own, and ask the webmaster to post a link to your web site, if you promise to put their link on your site. This is known as link exchange or reciprocal linking. This is a free way to spread the word about your site. You can also look for relevant online forums in which to post a message drawing attention to your site. There are many Greece and travel related forums on the Internet. If you are knowledgeable about a particular subject, you could answer other people’s posts and include a link to your web site at the end of your message. This is usually permitted if you are providing a genuinely helpful response to another person’s query. In addition to the free methods of publicising your web site you can pay for advertising using prominent banners and paid links on other web sites. It is important to consider carefully which sites you work with in order to ensure that you get the maximum amount of exposure for your money. This article may be reproduced for personal or commercial use, provided that certain terms and conditions are met. For more information, click here. |
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