1. Web Standards Creativity: Innovations in Web Design with XHTML, CSS, and DOM by Andy Budd, Andy Clarke, Ian Lloyd et al.  Featuring lessons from 10 different web designers, this book will show you how to work within web standards to create vivid and attractive pages.  The wide range of designers makes this book perfect for everything from entertainment sites to business homepages.2. Don’t Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug.  Once you face the hard truth that no matter how good your site looks, a user will not put more than a few seconds into figuring out how it works, you’ll be ready for Krug’s humorous look at improving web usability.  Cartoons and diagrams illustrate the proceedings, making this anything but a dull how-to.

3. Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns by Michael Bowers.  Like a dictionary or pattern book for web designers, Bowers’s book contains more than 350 codes for rounding corners, styling text, stretching images, and more.  The author has plenty of experience, having started coding at the age of 14, over 20 years before.  The book is also organized progressively, so readers who go all the way through won’t be lost.

These are just a few of the options available for designers eager to get started.  You can easily find more by searching online, but make sure to check the reviews to make sure they’re right for you.

Another way to make money from your website is by using advertising. This method is plausible only if your site generates a good amount of traffic and has a somewhat loyal following. Though there is small money in sites that don’t have many viewers, its best to use advertising on sites with 500-1000 visitors per day.

One way to make money by advertisements is through a banner program. These programs usually pay on a cost per click (CPC) or per impression basis.  Banner programs work as the middle man between businesses hoping to advertise and people like you who have websites garnering attention from target audiences.  These banner ads are usually flashy narrow displays placed strategically around the content area of your site. It’s best to use banner management software like phpAdsNew that can rotate different banners across your site. Try reaching out to businesses trying to sell products related to your website and offer them deals for ad spots on your site.

Another way to maximize revenue from your online content is Google AdSense. Google’s free program lets you display relevant Google ads on your site and earn money from the advertisers involved. You can place these ads anywhere and customize them to match your site, then track your success with online reports—for free.  Advertisers bid on the inventory you offer, and then the highest paying ad is shown on your site. Google bills the advertisers and ad networks shown and then you get paid.

First things first, you’ll need a domain name. A domain name is the address of your website that users type into the address bar. For example, right now you’re on www.cybermasters.net . The part that comes after the www is the domain name, so the domain name for this site is www.cybermasters.net.  When choosing your domain name, you can chose from any combination of letters and numbers up to 63 characters. You should keep your domain name short, sweet, and simple. You also want it to be relevant to your website and the business you’re trying to conduct. Its best to go with a .com or .net extension, but most of these names are taken. However, it is possible to find a good .com if you look into expired domain names that are constantly being released into the market. The best places to get a domain name are Act Now Domains, Network Solutions, Register.com, and GoDaddy. Once you’ve picked a registrar site, search the name of the domain you want and it will tell you if it is available.

After you’ve gotten a domain name, you’ll need to choose a web host that will store the website you create on its server so that it will be accessible on the internet. When you go about choosing a web host, you’ll want to look for one that has good support—you’ll most likely need help and want it readily available. It’s usually okay to go with the cheapest plan the web host you choose offers because most of the additions in the most expensive plans will never be used. Some recommended web hosts are Act Domains Now and iPower.

The now that you’ve got the basics, the rest of the website building depends on your content. Check out some of our other posts to learn more about how to get the most out of your website.

If you decide to use Joomla as a content management system, you get a wide assortment of features along with it. The user management feature allows users to configure personal options. The Media manager makes it easy to manage media files or folders by simply grabbing images and files and dragging them over. The Language manager makes it possible to translate text and codes of many world languages and gives you full control over what language you want where. The Banner Management feature allows you to set up banners that you create then set impression numbers, special URLs, and client profiles. You can also create polls to learn more about your users, insert search features to help users navigate, manage links with web link management, add templates and menu items, syndicate site content, and much much more.

Joomla offers an Online Demo that allows you to test the software and see how easy it is to create and manage content. If you have a question about any aspect of Joomla, there is a wiki page with info, advice, and links for first time users. If you like what you see in the demo, you can download the full software with one simple mouse click.

There are many ways to make your website search engine friendly. For starters, bold face some of the keywords on each page by inserting the <b> </b> code around the keyword. It is also important to link as many pages as possible to your content.  By linking existing sources to your website it shows search engines that the content on your website is worthwhile. Be sure to include links on all pages of your site, not just the home page. Another helpful SEO tactic is to add social bookmarks to your site. Social media website such as Facebook and Twitter provide valuable links to popularity and success.  If your site uses Java script drop down menus, be sure to put text links somewhere on the page so that the spiders search engines send out can find and follow the content of your page. Also note that these search spiders like fresh text. This means you should update your website frequently and add new content as often as you can—adding a blog is the easiest way to ensure frequent updates.

These are just a few very simple tips to help optimize your search engine results. For a more complete guide to SEO, try downloading this helpful guide or reading some of Peter Drew’s SEO tips on his Facebook page.  Remember that if you are able to increase the accessibility of your site to search engine spiders, your site will show up more on related search pages and more people will visit your website.

If you’re a beginner at website building, it’s recommended that you use a website builder that comes free from your web host. They are simpler and easier to use than outside builder software. If you’re a more advanced website builder, it’s good to use a standalone website building program that can provide more flexibility and creativity. A popular choice is Microsoft’s Expressions Web , an updated version of the popular Front Page.

Whether you’re an expert of a beginner, there are some key do’s and don’ts to take into consideration before launching your website. DO keep it simple and free of clutter—the less text the better. DO make it easy to look at and eye pleasing. Stay away from flashy fonts and colors—again, the simpler, the better. DO use colors that complement each other and don’t take away from the content of the page. DO directly display what your site is for. Customers don’t want to scroll around to find what they’re looking for, so make it easily available for them. DON’T use Flash animations—they may be fun to create and look at, but most users see a loading box and immediately navigate away. DON’T use music or sound—it’s okay to insert the option to play sounds or music but when you click a site and music starts blaring the reaction is generally a negative one. DON’T use slow loading graphics. If you use graphics for visual appeal or links, be sure to condense the image size so you reduce the time it takes to load without losing the quality. Lastly, DO NOT use pop ups on your website. They are extremely annoying and will drive visitors away faster than you can find the ‘x’ in the corner of the pop up box.