SI North-East Group 18 April 2012 Presentation by Sarah O’Donoghue Websites for indexers SI North-East Group 18 April 2012 Presentation by Sarah O’Donoghue

Contents Why have a website? How to set up a website The elements of a website Building your site Managing your pages Connecting your address to your site Broad layout guidelines Next steps

DISCLAIMER I am NOT a professional website builder. I’m an enthusiastic amateur who came up through science-fiction fan communities in the 1990s, building websites to reflect my interests and those of friends. In this presentation I aim to pass on what I have learned and help you avoid my mistakes!

Why have a website? As a freelance professional, an internet presence is vital for gaining new business A website gives clients a comprehensive, one-stop location to find out about you and your services It provides you with a hub for all your online activities

How to set up a website: introduction A website consists of three main elements: A domain name (your address) Website hosting space (your virtual house) Your website pages (the rooms in your house)

How to set up a website: domain names (your address) Your domain name is your online address. How much you pay for an online address depends on the ‘catchiness’ of the name you want. Think of it as a car licence plate: a bog-standard ABC1 DEF won’t cost anything extra; the vanity plate FAB 1NDEXER would cost a lot.

How to set up a website: domain names (your address) Most website hosting companies will give you an address for free, but it will be something like www.websitehosting.com/fredbloggsindexing If you want www.fredbloggsindexing.com you’ll have to pay a domain name registration service to bag it.

How to set up a website: domain names (your address) Be aware that you will never ‘own’ your address; you rent it from the registration service. The catchier the name the more it will cost: a .co.uk address will cost around £8 a year but a .com will be around £12. You can also purchase extras like email forwarding.

How to set up a website: domain names (your address) Many registration services will also offer to host your website (sell you your land as well as your address) but you’ll pay for it. It’s better to use a free hosting service. More about those later.

How to set up a website: domain names (your address) There are many registration companies out there but I use www.lcn.com They’re reputable and reasonably priced.

How to set up a website: domain names (your address) Most registration companies work in similar ways: Sign up for an account Build your website Publish it to the web

How to set up a website: website hosting space There are many free hosting services. They make their money from ‘optional extras’ Advertising Selling domain names Other services

How to set up a website: website hosting space There is an excellent comparison of free website hosts at Wikipedia (see links at end)

How to set up a website: website hosting space My preferred host is Weebly (http://www.weebly.com/) because: It has an intuitive interface Every element is drag & drop It allows blogging, embedding and slideshows

How to set up a website: website hosting space Most hosting space sites work in similar ways: Sign up for an account (get your house) Build your website (put the rooms in) Publish it to the web (tell the Post Office your address)

The elements of a website: the house analogy Websites are like houses. You need a front door. A website’s front door is called the Home Page. From your home page visitors can click on buttons to your other pages (rooms) from a menu bar.

The elements of a website Every website is different and should be tailored to your specific needs. Aside from the home page your indexing services website could have pages for: A profile CV/experience Rates Contact details Relevant links

The elements of a website: Home Page This is the first page your visitor will see so it needs to be clear and easy to navigate It needs to include links to your other pages, some information about the purpose of the site and a clear title Apart from that, the sky’s the limit!

The elements of a website: A Home Page Banner Profile picture Widgits (optional flashy stuff!) Menu bar The page design and layout came pre-loaded. It’s called a template and each host has dozens you can choose from and adapt.

Building your site Weebly allows you to drag & drop every element you want into your page, just like a Powerpoint presentation.

Building your site: Weebly menu options

Building your site: adding a contact form A contact form looks more professional than a simple email address at the bottom of your homepage. You can instruct your web host to forward messages straight to your email.

Building your website: managing your pages Here you can add and edit pages, and also create subpages. All web hosts will have similar setups.

How to set up a website:connecting your address to your house Now we come to three important terms: DNS records (Domain Name Server records) ‘A’ records (Alias records) IP address Think of DNS records as the Post Office, ‘A’ records as your house name and the IP address as your official address.

How to set up a website:connecting your address to your house So… Your ‘A’ record. Everyone knows your house by its name. Your IP address. The Post Office needs to know your ‘real’ address to deliver Your mail. Here’s your website Here’s your address

How to set up a website: in the DNS ‘Post Office’ IP Address: Your ‘proper’ address. ‘A’ records: Your house name

How to set up a website:connecting your address to your house You have to tell the Post Office (the Domain Name Server page of your domain registration site) what your address is (the IP address at your hosting site) using the ‘A’ (Alias) records. This is so the DNS can send you your mail (your site’s visitors) This sounds scary but every web host and registration site will give you detailed help and instructions.

Broad layout guidelines All your pages should be uniform in design, utilising the same colour scheme, design and layout (like this presentation) Don’t clutter your pages (KISS applies!) Make sure your contact details are easy to spot

Next steps Once you are happy with your website consider adding links to your Facebook, Twitter, and the SI site Add a ‘contact’ form Add ‘widgits’, a blog or embed videos, audio or slideshow images

Useful links www.lcn.com http://www.weebly.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_free_web_hosting_services