Setting up my own website - can someone dumb this down?

[ACBlinky]

Agh. I need some help - if there are any tech-savvy folks here, I desperately need some tutoring. Please use small words, this stuff hurts my head

I make jewelry as a hobby, and have been selling at a few craft shows and to friends and family, but now I have a (good) problem. Every time someone sees a friend's necklace and asks where they got it, all they can give out is my phone number and email - people are constantly asking for a URL to visit so they can see pictures of my work, and I very much want to set a website up to increase sales, but I have NO idea where to begin.

What I'd like to know is this:

1) How do I create, register and purchase a specific address (say I wanted www.myjewelery.com or whatever, and assuming nobody already has the address I'd like, how do I actually make it my own?)

2) How do I create the actual site - I'm computer literate, and if there's a good program to use I can sort out how to do it. Any recommendations? Would I need to buy a program, download one, or something else?

3) How do I find out the best place to host the site, and how does one go about giving them the information? Do you upload your newly created site somewhere and Ta-Da, someone puts it out there? Forgive my ignorance - the interweb is a confusing place for me.

4) Now that I know how to make the site, have someone host it, and it's located at a specific address chosen by me, how will others find it? I know that I can 'submit to search engines', but I haven't the foggiest how one actually goes about doing this.

Please help! If you have the patience to break this down for me in lay terms, step by step, I'll be forever grateful. I have several people frustrated with me for not getting started, and I haven't got it in me to tell them I just don't know where to begin.

TIA for any help you guys can offer

[dinoman]

Originally posted by ACBlinky
Agh. I need some help - if there are any tech-savvy folks here, I desperately need some tutoring. Please use small words, this stuff hurts my head

I make jewelry as a hobby, and have been selling at a few craft shows and to friends and family, but now I have a (good) problem. Every time someone sees a friend's necklace and asks where they got it, all they can give out is my phone number and email - people are constantly asking for a URL to visit so they can see pictures of my work, and I very much want to set a website up to increase sales, but I have NO idea where to begin.

What I'd like to know is this:

1) How do I create, register and purchase a specific address (say I wanted www.myjewelery.com or whatever, and assuming nobody already has the address I'd like, how do I actually make it my own?)

2) How do I create the actual site - I'm computer literate, and if there's a good program to use I can sort out how to do it. Any recommendations? Would I need to buy a program, download one, or something else?

3) How do I find out the best place to host the site, and how does one go about giving them the information? Do you upload your newly created site somewhere and Ta-Da, someone puts it out there? Forgive my ignorance - the interweb is a confusing place for me.

4) Now that I know how to make the site, have someone host it, and it's located at a specific address chosen by me, how will others find it? I know that I can 'submit to search engines', but I haven't the foggiest how one actually goes about doing this.

Please help! If you have the patience to break this down for me in lay terms, step by step, I'll be forever grateful. I have several people frustrated with me for not getting started, and I haven't got it in me to tell them I just don't know where to begin.

TIA for any help you guys can offer

1.) Depending on where you register many places will offer a combined package where you'll pay so much every month/6 months/ whatever for blah blah blah. Bandwidth/different features/etc and a lot of times anymore those packages will also offer you a chance to register one name free (with higher packages sometimes you'll get to also register multiple URLs free). Also depending on what company you decide to host through their packages will be setup a little differently. Some you can register the URL and your hosting package separate, other's its all one lump deal - only problem with that is if you decide to move to a different host you'll lose your URL. As far as the actual registering its really simple - most places you simply fill in a field of what you would like your URL to be. It'll bring up a page of different URL types (.us, .com, . net, etc), you'll select one that isn't taken and wait 24-48 hours or so for them to register it with the DNS and for it to get around.

2.) Can't help much with this one but I know both Frontpage and Dreamweaver seem to be really popular for those starting out - once you start getting more and more advanced there are things they can't do. Me? I learned how to create webpages in good ol' trusty NOTEPAD. Yes, that free program (if you're on a PC) that has came with windows since the dawn of time. It gets tedious, it gets complicated occasionally when you're still learning but it is great for teaching the "barebones" of how a website actually works because you're typing the code directly.

3.) It depends - every site (that I know of at least) including free ones will have a browser utility on the hosting companies website for uploading your files. Simple as uploading a picture to Photobucket nearly, just like on your computer you can create subdirectories and everything. Except instead of ending up a file name like on your computer (c:/my documents/my pictures/...) your uploaded page will end up with a URL of its own (ht*tp:/www.myurl.com/my%20first%20page). Also if you go with a paid hosting plan you should also get at least one other way to connect to the hosts servers - and that is by FTP. I won't get into what it actually is but you'll have to get a FTP client (many free ones out there) for uploading files to the server. Isn't nearly as complicated as it sounds - most are setup so on the left you'll have your local computer's files and on the right you'll have your servers file directories. Simply select the files you wish to upload and upload them where you want.

4.) Don't get sucked into the submit for search engines thing - most if they are even legit don't do a darn thing. Nearly every search engine has "crawlers" that constantly go through and search for new web pages and the like (and there are a variety of ways to optimize your website to give higher rankings but thats something for later time). Simply make a few links on your website to other websites and they'll find it in no time.

[wizardgus®]

A good place to get your feet wet for an e-commerce package would be GoDaddy and their package IIRC $49/mo. It has a real step by step system to help you build your sites with a nice choice of templates. You don't really need to learn much to have a nice site when you're done. If you just want a site for displaying your merchandise without selling it on line then they have some nice site builder packages for that too.

WebEasy is pretty simple software to get started with if you want to get more involved with building a site for one of the free hosts. Pretty much drag and drop with a good assortment of templates. Those were a couple I used in the beginning.

[ACBlinky]

Thank you guys so much! All this info is incredibly helpful. I have felt so frustrated, knowing what I wanted to do but having no idea where to start. I can't tell you how much better I feel now - thanks!!

Now to find the time to investigate all of the above suggestions...

[dinoman]

Something you can do in the meantime is there are plenty of already setup "photo galleries" out there if you just want to show pictures. It won't be your own website but you could put pictures up there while you play around making a website and learning things. Because usually it doesn't just happen overnight and usually you'll end up making several different sites before you're finally happy with one.

[Sk8r]

Frontpage has been discontinued and is now an 'orphan' software. Thank you, Bill Gates.
I've heard decent things about Dreamweaver.
Namo is another good wizzywig software.
WIzzywig [wysiwyg] means 'what you see is what you get' and means that your display shows 3 modes via toggle: a view of the screen as it will appear---that you can type on or 'call' pix or links onto; a preview of the page as it will appear on the web---nearly identical to the first one; and 3rd, the actual html code as your program has written it: this enables you to see the spot where you made 4 tries at getting a color you like which has resulted in 3 color changes and 'off' commands still 'fossilized' within the code---this happens sometimes, and slows a page's loading a bit, so if you like clean code, you can spot it and weed it out. There are other, far more serious situations this feature can spot. It's also where you can embed 'meta' code that will enable browsers to find your page really fast re certain topics: your 'meta' line would read: 'jewelry; bracelet; necklace; Blinky; and so on.

I would also recommend a book called HTML for Dummies. This is good bathroom reading and gives you the lowdown, instance by instance, on how to manipulate the code directly. It's simply written and gives lots of examples you can literally hand-copy and paste in to add features to your site.

You're not bound to the 'templates' offered in most programs. They look ok, but they're not you. Create a 'wallpaper' that's soft, falls to the background visually, repeats like a broken mirror, and is about the same size as your avatar. When you set something as 'wallpaper' it repeats the same image a hundred times across your screen and makes a fast-loading design background that is just yours. Or you can can create a 'splash page' for your 'entry page', a low-pixel-count page that's fast-loading. There are some programs [I WISH I could find another copy of Microsoft Image Composer!] that enable you to 'strip' info from a photograph and render it 'small.' Photoshop can do this, but is a huge program that does far more than that.

Anybody got a line on a simple dumb program like MIC that just does web images?

[Scuba_Dave]

I didn't know Frontpage was discontinued

I guess I should switch to Dreamweaver at some point

If you are going to do your own web page start learning now
Pick up a "Dummies" book and start practicing (as suggested)

My home page is static, loads fast & I very rarely change it
Then a menu from there

[Sk8r]

And, dear AC, don't be ashamed to steal. Many of us when starting out have swiped code from a page we admire to find out what makes it tick, then subbed in our own changes.

[ACBlinky]

LOL that hadn't even crossed my mind, but in the jewelery world we do it all the time - see a technique, colour combo or something else we like, and then 'make it our own'. I guess it goes on everywhere!

I've been looking at GoDaddy.com, and while I'm still confused, things are a bit clearer. I think the 'all in one' idea is what suits me the most, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get all the features I actually need without a lot of useless junk attached to it (I think what I want is an a-la-carte menu where I can create my own package).

I'm thinking I need:
- email
- a website address
- hosting
- some sort of template/web site software with unlimited pages/pictures
- a shopping cart where I can accept PayPal and credit cards

Now I'm researching setting up my own small business - though we're just starting up, it now looks like my (fairly unreliable) partner is going to back out and leave me out in the cold, taking her business name & tax numbers with her. Good times.
-

[Sk8r]

I use what was Interland, and is now web.com. I don't know if you can use it from Canada. But they've been decent, and have commercial packages, with responses possible, orders, etc.

[wizardgus®]

As long as you're still in the research stage, take a look at Yahoo stores. Quite a few people in my business group really like it for cheap and simple to get up and running.

Also, do NOT setup a CC portal until you are ready to go live. They start charging you the monthly fee immediately. I would definitely look at either Google checkout, or the PayPal one. Lots less money and I've been hearing good reports. I already had CC processing for my B&M store, so I just added my e-commerce onto that. But if I was starting from scratch or just on-line I would look at either of those two.

To you other guys, once you use Dreamweaver you'll wonder why it took you so long to switch. It's not as intuitive as Frontpage, but so much better IMO.

[wizardgus®]

Ack! I've been withholding what I think is my best advice since it is likely to be controversial.....

But if I was starting from the point of knowing nothing about building a website or e-commerce, the point I did start from, I would do it the same way I originally did. I'd set up an eBay store.

• $9.95/month + 6¢/item. That's a nice low cost while you learn.


• Shopping cart is no cost, minor cost to take CC with PayPal if desired


• The listing tools are pretty simple and give you good hands on training for building HTML


• You have instant website to show and promote


• You have traffic that is hard to duplicate on your own.


• You're open for business while you learn the ropes.

That is still where the vast majority of my sales come from.

[Bono]

I'm also looking for a site for my service oriented business and have zero computer skills._ I've received estimates of $500 give or take and wondered if it's a good price? and if anyone knows a good company or individual who does this type of stuff can you please send me a PM._ Thanks

[ACBlinky]

Wow, this is amazing; I didn't expect such a great response! I want to thank everyone for their advice. The more I research, the more it becomes clear that I need to do more research. eBay wasn't even something that crossed my mind, and there are many options here I've never even heard about before. I think it's going to be a week of heavy duty investigation - I'm trying to get up and running ASAP, but I don't want to regret my choices either.

Bono - from everything I've looked at so far, I don't think you will need to spend that much (unless someone is building your site for you). There are programs that you can use as easily as using this forum - you just drag and drop things, and type, and the program magically converts everything into a web page for you