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How can I build my own website

01:00 Sat 03rd Mar 2001 | Technology

By Christina Okoli

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ANYONE�who's anyone has a website these days. Industry analysts say it could make or break your business. But, with all of its virtues, the very thought of building one's own website can be as daunting as it gets.

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However, creating a presence for yourself on the Internet isn't as hard as it looks. Follow these 10 steps to creating your own website and secure your place in cyber stardom:

  1. Choose an ISP to host your web site. Most people choose their usual ISP server on which to build their website, this is because most providers offer a few free megabytes of storage as part of your regular account.
  2. Next, select and download a page editor. There are many simple page-editing software packages available to download free on the net. Netscape composer and Internet Explorer’s Front Page Express are two of the most popular. These editors automatically convert English language instructions into HTML code, taking the burden of coding the webpage off the user’s hands.
  3. Whichever web editor you choose, you will be given similar instructions asking you to select a name for your website. You will then be instructed to choose colours, create different sections, add backgrounds, links and images.
  4. You can create images for your site by drawing them on your computers paint program or by scanning photographs and other hard copy prints into your paint program. You can then import the image into the webpage you are creating. Remember that the smaller your images are in bytes, the quicker the web page will be to load.
  5. Your web host ISP may have its own system for uploading pages onto the Internet. If not, you can download a file transfer protocol (FTP) program. Netscape Composer can do FTP at the touch of a button.
  6. Open your FTP program and log in to your host server by entering your user ID and password. Your web space provider will give you a user ID and password.
  7. Access the directory where your home page belongs, your web ISP will give you advice about how to do this. The directory address is usually in the form of /pub/username or /pub/www/username. Your FTP program and host server will have specific instructions on how to access your directory.
  8. Upload each page and graphic for your site according to the specific instructions of the FTP program or your host server.
  9. You can then register your website's name at a site such as www.Register.com.
  10. It is common for people to store their web pages on a dedicated web-hosting service. But, if you’d prefer to store your site on your own computer, you can transform your computer into an FTP server by using a regular dial-up account and the right software. The draw back of this is that your website will only be accessible when you are online.

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