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Can you really get a website even without knowing anything
about code, and without paying a fortune? Find out.
The days when websites were primarily distinguished by their code are long
gone. Nowadays, the web is a true publishing medium that favors well
thought-out ideas. You can get a professional-looking website online in
minutes with many website building services and software. But what should
you look for? What are the features you really need and which are just
clutter?
Content Editing
Some website authoring software packages only allow you to entire plain,
unformatted text. Some of them allow you to entire HTML tags. Others
provide a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") interface with options for
font, links, and image insertion much like a word processor's. Some
will allow you to use more than one, or even all of these options so you have a
choice on how you want to format your text.
Template Designs
Every website builder ever invented came with at least one or two templates
for creating the graphical look of a website, so you don't have to design the
look of the site yourself. But some packages have very large libraries of
templates, some have only a few. Some will let you mix and match elements
of the design templates, while others will lock you in to one setup.
Ecommerce Functions
Many ready-to-go websites created by website builder software feature
built-in shopping carts. Some even come with credit card processing.
This is of course necessary if you're going to be selling stuff direct
online. But if you're not going to be selling anything, ecommerce
functionalities may just complicate the administration of the site and pad the
price for the software or service.
Blogging Functions
Blogs are "web logs," but blogging software involves more than just a simple
online journal. Blogging technology allows you to send your new posts
directly to subscribers via RSS, without them having to visit your site or
receive an email from you. Still, unless you plan on updating your site
regularly (at least once a month), your website's blog will just gather
cobwebs.
Email
Some hosted web authoring systems provide email accounts at no additional
charge, while others do charge separately. Some web builder systems even
come with modules for creating email newsletters.
Support
It is very likely that you will encounter a technical difficulty at some
point while owning your website. Make sure you know in advance of paying
whether the company provides only paid support, and if any included support is
over email, a web ticketing system, or the telephone.
Photo and Image Management
For many, if not most, people who want personal websites, displaying pictures
online is a primary motivation, if not the only motivation. If you want to
display pictures on your website, make sure to choose a website builder system
that makes it easy to upload and publish images.
Renting vs. Owning
You can buy website authoring software upfront for a flat fee, or you can
"rent;" i.e., pay a company every month to use a hosted service. The
choice is up to you, but remember that the hosted service will likely charge you
much more in the end: averaging around $20/month, hosted the typical hosted
website builder will cost you $240/year--far more than most desktop
software.
In short, you don't need to know how a website is coded to make one, any more
than a book author needs to know about printing ink. Don't burden yourself
with learning how to do web design. Having fun with your website starts
with choosing a website builder software that will make it fun.
About the author: Joel Walsh recommends you check out this
website authoring software.
This article is free for republishing
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