by Alex Landis

Created on: April 09, 2008   Last Updated: January 12, 2012

The internet has become such a valuable technology, that more and more people are wanting to create their own web pages and web sites to share their ideas, and make money. I typically recommend that every person have their own web site and web page now. It's a great way for someone to tell the world about themselves, share their qualifications with potential employers, and get their word out.

If you are wanting to create your own web page, I've put together a basic to do list that will help you in the process.

Before we begin, here's a list of things you'll need:

• Computer
• Text Editor (Notepad for PC, TextEdit for Mac)
• Web Browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox)

Optional:

• FTP Software
• A web host and server space.

1.What is your web page about?

Before you create your web page, you need to figure out what it's going to be about. Are you creating a blogging web site to share your writing? A web site for a company your created? A photography site to share your portfolio? The main content/text is going to be the heart of your page, so it's important to know what it's going to be because that will help you figure out how the web page will look and behave.

2. Make a sketch

Once you have a clear idea of what your web page is going to be about, I recommend you make a sketch of what you want the page to look like. Ask yourself where do you want the main text to go? How about the navigation links? Does your web site have a header? A footer? One Column? Two? Three? Make a few sketch of possible ways your web site could look, and label each part so you know what it is for future use.

3. Learn basic HTML

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the coding language used to make web pages. You will need to know how HTML works before you can really get into creating your page. If you have not had any experience with HTML previously, there are numerous instruction books, and free tutorials online that will help you learn HTML quickly. Here is a few web sites I recommend checking out to help you learn HTML:

http://www.w3schools.com/HTML/
http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/
http://www.tizag.com/htmlT/
http://www.pagetutor.com/html_tutor/index.html
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/

When you begin learning HTML I suggest you test everything you learn by creating test web pages. You can create these in a text editor such as Notepad for PC, or TextEdit for Mac, and view the pages you create in your computer's default web browser. This will ensure you are learning HTML correctly and will give you a good idea on how it works to create web content.

4. Create HTML

Once you have an understand of what HTML is, and how it works, you can begin creating your web page with what you learned. If you are wanting to create a great web page, you'll more than likely add text, images, links, tables, and a variety of other types of HTML code. Piece each part together like a puzzle and when you are done you'll have an almost complete web page!

5. Style your web page using CSS

HTML provides basic formatting and styling, but if you want to have complete contron over how your web page looks, I recommend you learn how to use CSS (cascading style sheets). CSS is code similar to HTML that tells different parts of your web page how to look. As with HTML, there are many books and free tutorials online that can help you learn this valuable styling code.

In conclusion, knowing how to create your web pages is a valuable skill that everyone should learn, and by following my guide you should be well on your way to creating the next fantastic web site the world will fall in love with!

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