Where to Begin: Getting Started With Your Own Website

Once you’re all signed up for hosting, the next step is to get your website online. Where should you begin?

First, you need to know what the purpose of your website is. Is it an informational website where you can provide details of your organization, group, or services? Do you want a blog? Or are you planning to sell online with an ecommerce site?

Each of these types of sites should be approached differently. Here are four ways to get your website online.

1) Hire a Designer

If you do not want to create the site yourself, or do not have time, there are many excellent designers available who can provide this service for you.

2) Use a “content management system” or “site builder”

This is software that is installed on your hosting space where you can login to an administrative interface through your web browser and choose a design, add pages or posts, and maintain your websites. These systems work well for those with at least a bit of computer experience (if you can use Word, Outlook Express and similar programs and follow video tutorials or written tutorials to learn about the site builder you choose, you’ll be fine).

Elemental Muse hosting packages include Fantastico, which is a script auto-installer that allows you to very easily get setup with several site builder software options, including:

SohoLaunch — great for informational websites and has the PayPal buttons available so you can easily sell your products/services if you do not need inventory control. Many designs to choose from and good support options available including this series of video tutorials at http://info.soholaunch.com/index.php?pr=Flash_Tutorials and also a free weekly webinar to show you the basics you can sign up for at www.soholaunch.com

Wordpress — this is a blog software, but also works very nicely for informational websites as it allows you to create pages and blog posts. Many plugins and themes are available but it takes a bit more technical knowledge to use those features (downloading, unzipping, uploading with FTP). You can find very good lessons for beginners at http://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Lessons

3) Install an ecommerce system

If you plan to use your site to sell products or services, especially with limited quantities then you may want to choose a store & shopping cart system to power your site. Several choices are available free with your hosting package, and many paid systems also work nicely on our servers (XCart, Iris Market Builder, and others).

These three are free and available through the auto-installers in the cPanel so they’re easy to setup:

• osCommerce — www.oscommerce.com
• Zen Cart — www.zencart.com
• Cube Cart — www.cubecart.com

4) Build your website with a program on your computer then upload to the server

You can also choose to create your website with a program like Front Page, Dreamweaver, etc and then upload it to your hosting space. This option requires more technical knowledge, but also allows you to work on your site offline so it’s good for people on dial up connections.

This covers a few of your options for getting a website online. There are many other programs and shopping carts out there that you can also choose from. But this should get you started and give you an idea where to begin.