I am an Accounting Professional and would like to design a webpage for myself with the kind of services I can provide and my educational qualifications. Being an absolute novice at web designing I need some tips on how to go about designing my own. All suggestions are welcome, I am in no rush.

Thanks,

Sayvari :?:

Recommended Answers

All 24 Replies

Start here: http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/frontdoor/beginners.html

Read through it all. They'll get you started in no time. They use an excellent non-boring tone so you won't kill yourself with techno-babble. That's how I learned web design/development. Once you're done with that, go to:

http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/frontdoor/builders.html

And once you're done with that, go to:

http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/frontdoor/masters.html

I use a freebie called Arachnophilia, it comes in Easy, Moderate and Expert levels, (or words to that effect) and I find it simple to use. The fact that it's free is a bonus!

Funkynassau

I use Frontpage to design my website...it is very user friendly, a windows based program. Then I upload my files through www.angelfire.com I found this to be one of the easiest sites. It is free also, and allows 10 MB i think....plenty for a personal website. Good luck. rmn518@excite.com

I use adobe photoshop, flash mx sometimes, ulead gif animator pro (for animation); and for coding, i use microsoft's visual studio.net 2002.

If you are going open source//free, GIMP is a good graphic art program, and notepad always works. :)

[BTW: incissor thats a great TTF banner in your sig!]

[BTW: incissor thats a great TTF banner in your sig!]

Thanks! Glad you like it!

You can get a free 15 meg website at www.geocities.com. They are run by yahoo.com.
Funkynassau

Use http://www.1asphost.com/ instead. It's FREE! 100 MB, unlimited bandwidth, and hotlinking images are not restricted:

Free Deluxe Features

  • 100 MB of Space
  • Instant Account Activation
  • Online Control Panel
  • Online Unzip Capability
  • Unlimited Bandwidth
  • SSI (DHTML)
  • WAP
  • Active Server Pages Support - ASP 3.0
  • Free Database Connectivity:
    • MS Access databases
  • Macromedia Shockwave support

I like to use macromedia fireworks to create websites, it think its supposed to be an imaging program, but it makes very high quality websites, plus i like that i can create slices on large images in the same program that i make my website, i usually use it to make all my drop down meus, roll overs ect, makes very advanced java script easy.

Sayvari,

I would say first, it depends on the quality of the site you are looking for, and who your prospective market is.

For beginners, I would definatley recommend you do not start off creating your corporate identity as a web site until you have some practice - since prospective clients are apt to visit, a bad representation can do more harm than good.

With that said, I would first play around with any of the above refrenced WYSIWYG editors and create a personal page - maybe about your family --- that I would say would be fine for publication to a Yahoo! (Geocities) spot.

For your business, I suggest purchasing your own domain - and hosting. I would never put my business on anything else, that is unless it is product driven, then a Yahoo! Store would be ok.

As for design, as a professional, I create all interfaces for my designs in Photoshop. For a novice designer, I would say get a free version of Paint Shop Pro, and read some tutorials on it. It is really better to create your graphical "look" then integrate your content.

Also, don't give off an amature feel --- stay away from scrolling words, flashing stuff, too many animated graphics, and clip art.

Good luck, and if you have any other questions, I would be happy to help you :)

**edited for spelling errors

I use Frontpage to design my website...it is very user friendly, a windows based program.

And very Internet Explorer-centric. By default, it creates pages that have problems under Mozilla, Netscape, Opera, and other browsers--and that's under Windows. From character-set choices to the embedded tags it uses, FrontPage is just a bad choice all-around.

Firstly, I'll concede that there is some value in the "drag and drop" programs that will graphically put a site together for you. When i need a very complex table built, I'll go to Dreamweaver and export it, for example. They do make some things easier.

That said, I'll say this: if you are serious about building and maintining your own site, do not overlook the virtue in learning how to hand-code HTML at the very least. I learned years ago at http://www.htmlgoodies.com and have since utilized many other sites like asp101.com, four guys from rolla, etc - work up to those.

In this respect - if your using a PC - I would say that the best "free" software for building webpages comes with your PC - its Notepad!

You can make it fun and, while they wont look on-the-mark when you stat, you'll continually get more sophisticated as you learn. Also, you'll be able to update it much more precisely and with greater efficiency if you can hand code updates and other "tweaks".

my $0.02 :)

-gkd

think about WHY you are setting up the site. To attract new customers? Then look into providing information they need. Sell benefits to customer.

If you plans for designing your own website regarding an account profession then it is good thing to provide your services on the internet through the website. But for that you need to use the Dreamweaver software that help you to create a web design because it is best software for designing the website. I have also designed the website using this software if you need any help for that then contact me.

austinluthers and lovelopez: did any of you notice that you are replying on a thread that is over nine years old? I might be mistaken, but seeing that the last time the OP was active on this forum was 8 years ago, I doubt (s)he's still looking for an answer here.

Hello Sayvari,
I think you can build your own website using the best content management system around Wordpress. It is open source software and a blogging tool and it is free. We can easily add videos, images, news etc through wordpress. It has excellent features and I also recommend visiting Open Website Tutorials: How to make your own website. This site was a great help when I was creating my first website. The tutorial is very simple and has some great video tutorials. I hope this tutorial helps you too!

If you are not professional in desiging field you should hire professional website and logo design company for this purpose becase you can't do amazing in designing except hiring good designers.

I agreed with JessicaJohn that if you don't have an idea about webdesign than you must hire a professional webdesigner so that you can make you website better.

If you want to design your own website you have to know:
PHOTOSHOP HTML CSS

If you want a blog with pro templates:
wordpress (best blog framework)

If you want free hosting: ex: www.yourname.something.com
www.000webhost.com

If you want paid hosting: ex: www.yourname.com
www.bluehost.com
www.godaddy.com

To learn PHOTOSHOP HTML CSS you need to spend LOT of time practicing and learning basics, if you can't wait to learn and design your own website go for wordpress, otherwise enjoy learning :)

Erm, i don't think there is any reason to continue this thread because it is 9 years old and people by know how to answer this question (it is commonly asked and solved by many).

Being an accountant , your profession is completly opposite.As a beginner you can take help of the dreamweaver software which will help you in making up the codes and writing the codes. It will be a great help for you to create your own website and provide your services through internet.

StephenBolt ... please actually read the posts you reply to. I think <M/> is correct in assuming that after 9 years, the OP is no longer trying to do this.

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