Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Website - 4

Build a Website With No HTML Experience

The Basic Steps are:

1. Register a Domain Name
2. Set up a Hosting Plan
3. Get a Template, or Webpage Builder Software
   Next Step:
4. Obtain or Create Graphics
5. Create and/or Customize the Home Page
6. Copy for Each Additional Web Page and Customize
7. Upload the Files to the Hosting Server Account
8. Test, Modify, Upload - Repeat Until Done

Step 4 - Graphics - Logos, Banners, Images, Photos

Most websites have very obvious branding with graphics logos and their website or product name across the top of each page. Using a screen width banner of 750 to 800 pixels wide is common and ensures your webpage will display within a 800x600 window. If you make it too wide, the right side of your webpage might not display on many PC's.

I have resized digital photos for years and learned how to draw some logos myself. You can also purchase graphics and have logos created from graphic artist services on the Internet. I had a nice logo designed for $100 that I only used for a short time. It only took them a few hours.

I recommend that you design your website before you have graphics designed professionally. It is likely that you will know better what graphics you want designed for your webpage after you finalize your website name, layout and branding message.

You still may need to resize or "crop" photos and graphics to fit them where you want them on your webpage. There are some fairly inexpensive basic tools online to try for free and buy for only $20 or so. Don't expect too much for a low price.

Adobe Photoshop is popular and full-featured. It is also expensive, and I think it was written for a graphics designer to use. I bought a full version one year and wished I hadn't. Still many web designers have learned it and use it for their own graphics. There are other options though.

I have used Paint Shop Pro since discovering it years ago. The latest version by Corel has so many added features that the download files to my PC astounded me, and I still consider the price "very affordable". It now includes many advanced graphics features and still manages to keep the commands and help simple enough for a layman to understand.

You can use any graphics software that converts and resizes graphic files for now. You can even skip this step if you know how to grab a picture from the web. [Right-click, Save Picture As - on Windows].

The browsers only display certain graphics file types. The common file types are .jpg or .gif files. A rule of thumb is to use a .jpg file for photographs and .gif files for drawings. Please do NOT use a .bmp file, as the bmp file sizes are very large and will load slowly.

The dimension of the graphic is important for placement on your webpage. You can usually see the file dimensions in the Microsoft Explorer panel when the file is highlighted. I say usually because Microsoft has changed PC operating systems and the default displays, so if you can't see the file attributes, try to change the defaults or options to display the file attributes.

Any graphics package will display the file dimensions too. Just viewing the file in an email or on your PC will rarely display the true image dimension, as that software may "resize" it automatically for your viewer.

You can display graphics within your webpage as large as a screen width, about 750-800 pixels. Most often images about 200 to 400 pixels wide will show plenty of detail for web pages. Digital cameras typically are set to create pictures that are detailed enough for printing. The photo files needed for printing have a much higher resolution, upwards of 1024 pixels wide.

Usually you will want to "resize" your photos to less than 50% of it's original resolution or more for displaying them on your webpage. It is also recommended for speed of loading, especially for your dialup visitors. Also be careful not to use too many graphics that will delay the loading of your web page for those without a high-speed connection. I try to limit even my online album sites to less than 10 photos per page, even when they are resized properly.

You can email me at webmaster@myminisites.net for a quick response to your inquiries.