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Homepages
| Homepages
In my humble opinion, everyone should create a homepage. Wait,
let's back up a minute. What's a homepage? Well, there are
really two definitions. First, a homepage is the first page of a
web site, usually named index, default or home. Second, a
homepage is a web site with one or more pages which is personal.
It's the second definition which we are using in this article.
Okay, so why would anyone want to create a homepage? It's simple
really. The internet is all about communication. A homepage is a
method whereby you can communicate about yourself, your family,
hobbies, pets, likes, dislikes, religion or anything else that
you desire. Oh, there are limits to what you can put on your web
site - you must stay within the contractual terms of the company
which is hosting it. You also should not violate any laws - but
besides that, post away.
You say you have nothing to communicate that anyone would want
to know? Hmmm. You're alive, aren't you? You have a family, a
job, a pet, a hobby, anything? Let's see what kind of topics you
can choose.
- Make a fan site for your favorite television show (Star Trek,
Wonder Woman, Dallas, whatever)
- Create a personal diary.
- Post a photo album.
- Put up pictures of all of the trash cans in Disneyland
(someone already did it).
- Write about and include drawings and photos of your cat, dog,
fish, armadillo or snake.
- Tell everyone about your job.
- People are always interested in religion - talk about yours.
- You like your car? Create a web site all about that.
- What about your travels around the world? A diary and/or
photos is a good thing to put on a homepage.
- Did some school papers of which you are proud? Post them.
- If you are an artist or photographer, display your work.
- Figure something out? Tell us all about it.
- Had an out-of-body experience, been kidnapped by aliens or
remember your past lives? Well, we'd all like to know.
That's just a sample, there are an infinite number of subjects
that you can write about.
All right, so now you want to create a home page. How do you go
about it? Find a company (a provider) to host it, choose a web
editing package (optional), and get to work. If you want to
include photos or other graphics you will need to get a graphics
editor and possibly a scanner. Don't worry, just start small and
work your way through it. The providers usually make it pretty
easy to get started.
Visit some of the sites listed in the article on freehosts
(http://www.internet-tips.net/Homepages/freehosts.htm). Read
their information and FAQs (frequently asked questions) until
you find one that you like.
Virtually all of these hosts have very easy-to-use utilities to
create very nice home pages. They let you edit right from your
web browser, add pictures, even include nice things like
guestbooks and counters. These utilities are a great place to
start.
My advice is to just pick a provider and jump right in. Get your
feet wet. Yeah, your first efforts may not be perfect, but
you've got to start somewhere. Enjoy yourself and have fun.
If you find after a while that the provider that you chose
doesn't meet your needs, switch and start over with another one.
Until you find a provider that you are happy with (fast,
easy-to-use, up most of the time) keep you homepage small. Once
you find one you are happy with, go to town.
Now spend some time working on it. Do a little every day if you
can, or at least a few days a week. Just keep working on it.
When you get a version of the site that's "done" (all pages
finishes, no under construction signs, links working, etc)
submit it to the search engines
(http://www.internet-tips.net/Advertising/searchengines.htm) so
other people can enjoy your work. Remember that the search
engines take a few weeks or months to list your site, so don't
expect visitors overnight. Then practice using some of the other
promotion techniques discussed in "advertising"
(http://www.internet-tips.net/Advertising/Advertising.htm).
Now just keep working on your home page. Get as fancy as you
like. You'll learn about graphics, HTML, and many other things.
You've begun an adventure which has more rewards than you can
imagine.
At some point you will begin to push the limits of the free
host/web based homepage editing technology. You will start to
get frustrated because something you want to do is difficult or
cannot be done at all.
Now is the time to begin to learn about new things. Now you will
want to learn HTML, perhaps buy a nice HTML editor and go to
town. Most likely, by this time you will want to re-create your
site anyway, so pick an editor and go for it. If you don't want
to do the whole thing over, there are techniques to get your
site down to your own hard drive (learn about FTP). Perhaps you
will need to find a new host - there are hundreds and hundreds
of them.
There is an added benefit to doing all of this - you are
learning skills which will be of use throughout the rest of your
life. This will be useful in many jobs, and if you become good
enough, perhaps you will have found yourself a possible new
career. At the very least, you may make some new friends and
have a great adventure.
It's better than sitting at home watching television, isn't it?
About the author:
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets.
This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your
internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge. Web Site Address:
http://www.internet-tips.net Weekly newsletter:
http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm Daily Tips:
mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com
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