How To Create a Website

This site will prepare you to develop and update your very own website. it will begin with some helpful hints and then provide links that can be used for website development.

Things to think about before starting:

• Who is your audience? Decide whom your web page serves.
• What is the purpose of your site? To educate, entertain, provide unique information or a combination of these.
• Content is the most important. Ask yourself – Why would anyone want to come back to my web page?
• The web site should not be just a copy of brochure. You need to provide more to your users.
• Updating should be performed often. Develop a plan for adding new content to your web page so it has something different to offer a user each time they visit.

The basic structure of a web page can be broken down into three types of pages:

• A home page or front page: This is the main page that everyone will see first. It is the doorway to your web site, thus the first impression everyone will get when visiting your site.
• Main topic pages: These pages are linked to the home page.
• Subsidiary pages: These are any other web pages that are associated with the main topic pages.

Because a website is generally organized in a top-down structure, with the home page at the top and the subsidiary pages at the bottom. All subsidiary pages should have links to the home page and main topic pages.

Some examples of various community websites are listed below:

• http://www.spokane.org/
• http://www.WatervilleMaine.net
• http://www.bridgeportwv.com