Learn the basics when it comes to design, hosting and publishing of you new website.

Learning how to design, present and maintain a website is important. Failing to follow some of the tips below could result in your webpage getting lost in the millions of others being published each day. Proper planning and optimization can help your business or personal website make it to the top of the search engines and get the attention it deserves.

Some key design tips to keep in mind: Don't bog your page down with bulky graphics--most people still surf with 56k modems. Don't use excessive Java Scripting. Lastly, fancy page transitions, broken hyperlinks and brain-searing color schemes will never get your page bookmarked.

Purchasing a Domain

Somewhere between getting an idea for your site and completing your pages, you'll need to purchase a domain name. A domain name is something like BOB.com or MyCoolSite.com. It is a name for the numerical address the internet uses to lookup your page. Domain names are used because it's inconvenient to type and hard to remember a number like 200.34.123.43. To purchase a domain name you can go to any registrar. Some typical registrars are Dotster and GoDaddy. Shop around for the best deal. Often, web hosting companies will provide the registrar service in a package deal with their hosting plan.

Finding a Hosting Company

Cheaper isn't always better. However, QuickWebHosting.com provides the perfect combination of inexpensive web hosting with great service and technical support. They provide the top webhosts in the industry and give a summary of their strengths. They also provide tech support via a forum, as well as articles and tutorials to help with your website needs.

You need your pages to be up for your customers and friends. But most importantly, you need to your site to be up when search engine spiders come looking for you. Search engines use robots to index your site and determine your ranking. Imagine the horror if your inexpensive web hosting company allows your site to be down for several hours over the weekend and you miss an update from a search engine! No one on the internet will ever find you.

Ask around. Search the newsgroups. See what everyone else is saying. Look for a company that offers plenty of bandwidth and disk space. Take into consideration how many e-mail accounts you'll need. And most importantly, look for a site that offers good tech support and a money back guarantee.