JGS Group

Websites have different purposes and functions. For business purposes, for personal use such as blogs, and venue for different advocacies are some of the purposes and functions of websites. A website builder is a tool used to produce websites. HTML, programming and other scripting languages are utilized to create a web page. Combined together, web pages make up a website.

A total of 21.4 million websites added in 2010, with 255 million websites up in the internet. Not all websites stand out. Google remains the top viewed and utilized website in the internet, followed by social networking site, Facebook, Youtube, and another search engine Yahoo. Obviously, these websites used an effective website builder. However, using a good website builder is not enough. It should have the following characteristics for it to be deemed effective.

A visually appealing appearance should be the first thing that is embodied by a site created using a website builder. A visually sound website should have a good choice of color, text, graphics, photos, and simple design. The common cliche that first impressions last is true. It is important to leave a good impression to your page visitor. The website is a tool which represents your company’s personality. The color scheme should blend well, and is not an eye sore. Every page visitor must be able to read the text. Unusual text colors and large fonts sometimes send the wrong impression to page viewers. If there’s no need to place photographs and graphics, then don’t bother putting them in your page. A visual blur may be the outcome of unnecessary graphics. Always opt for those with the highest quality when it comes to photographs. Lastly, simplicity is beauty. For your website to look best, it is best to keep everything minimal.

The next thing to keep in mind for an effective web design is the content. The quality of the content is essential to a successful website launching. Fresh facts and getting your message across viewers should be embodied by the content. Simple and clear content is the key. Technical writing works for websites, unless you’re writing for a blog. Update it regularly for sear engine optimization. This technique is done to rank in search engines and generate page views.

A web design must be usable and functional for it to be effective. Functionality is gauged if it works properly. Browsing your website and checking for non-working links will regularly test its functionality. Websites which offer registration cannot afford to have errors and glitches. The layout of the website must be user friendly. Easy navigation should be allowed. It should also be compatible with different browsers and platforms, and an adjustable screen resolution as it may appear scattered when viewed using a computer with different screen resolution.

Link building and tracking are also two processes which the web administrator should undertake. To generate more page views, you can link your site with prominent websites. Press release (PR) websites provide links back to websites of those which submit articles to them. An internet software, on the other hand, does the tracking. The page administrator should track the page viewers and the pages they viewed. This will aid you to evaluate your website’s strengths and weaknesses, and improve it.

Data shows that in the year 2010, 255 million websites are registered in the internet. Moreover, 21.4 million websites were added on the year itself. This just shows that the internet is a huge place for websites. Google, Facebook, Youtube, and Yahoo are among the top visited websites. Just like any other pages, these four use a website builder in creating their website. The key to an effective web design is to have a simple layout and a substantial content for page viewers.

- Tem Balanco

If you want to build your own website, you should have a proficient knowledge of different programming languages, codes, and the program you will use to create one. More flexibility in terms of designing your website is one advantage of creating your website from scratch. However, this takes a really long and complicated process. But if you’re really into this, you will at least need knowledge and skill in HTML; an HTML editor; image editing software; and web hosting provider. Four programming languages are most commonly used in creating websites. These languages are HTML, Javascript, Java, PHP, and CSS. Ruby on Rails, ASP.net, and Perl languages have also been developed alongside the introduction of Web 2.0.

Among the other languages, the hypertext markup language or HTML is the most commonly used language by programmers. HTML codes are the building blocks of almost all web pages found in the internet. It was developed by physicist Tim Bernes Lee in 1980, as a tool to create a program that will allow the researchers to share and use documents within their company, CERN. HTML consists of hypertext, tags, which are read by web browsers, which transform it into a viewable webpage. It enables other components such as attributes, character and entity references. Over the years, tech experts have modified the language, making it compatible with all other languages used to create websites.

Web developers and programmers would probably recommend you to build your own website using the Javascript and the Java. It is also used to draft dynamic applications and programs. Compared to HTML, Java is a multi-paradigm language which supports advanced programming styles. It was first introduced by Netscape’s Brendan Eich. Used by client-server applications in the web, the Java programming language, meanwhile is most popularly used programming language nowadays. Developers James Gosling, Patrick Naughton, and Mike Sheridan, introduced this to provide an interactive television in 1995. A Java-run program is compatible with almost every system platform. Java is optimized mainly for networking and graphics.

Another popular tool you can use to build your own website is the CSS, or the Cascading Style Sheets. It is a style language which is capable of formatting a document in markup language formats such as HTML, XHTML, and XML. It separates the text (content) from the style (colors, fonts, layout). A webpage can be modified through CSS. CSS is a much simpler form which uses only a few keywords.

Meanwhile, the scripting language mainly used for creating advanced and functional web pages is the PHP or Hypertext Processor. It runs on a web server and can work with almost all platforms and operating system. PHP is a free software.

A single programming language is not easy to learn. A professional web designer is always preferred over learning the codes manually.

For you to build your own website, you will need the following: knowledge and skill in HTML; an HTML editor; image editing software; and web hosting provider. You won’t be able to pursue a step forward unless you have a mastery of the basic programming languages such as HTML, Java, CSS, and PHP. Among the four, HTML serves as the base language.

- Tem Balanco