In 1974 Arthur C. Clarke predicted a world populated by internet enabled personal computers. In 2014 there were an estimated one billion websites in existence. Despite this enormous number, the general populace see the internet as a source of information and not something they can actively contribute to themselves. Thanks to social media, forums, comments, online petitions and reviews, people who have no knowledge of how websites are created can add their content, voice and opinion to the general conversation. The next step of course, is to create a website of your own and that’s where things can get a bit tricky.
The reason there are millions of websites out there is that in reality they are so easy to make, if you know how and are willing to give it a try. Crossing the bridge from being a consumer of content to a creator of useful information for others to benefit from is for most a foreboding idea, but it is getting easier and easier. Tech Talk is now offering readers the chance to cross this bridge with a simple website design package aimed at anyone, from enthusiasts and hobbyists to budding entrepreneurs, who would like to have a website of their own. We believe that, with a little help from us, anyone should be able to take their interests, ideas or hobbies to friends, family, fellow enthusiasts or the rest of the world without being a super-geek web-tech wizard.
Over the next few months we will be shining our spotlight on website creation, looking at what makes a good website and how things generally work. In all honesty, the process of making your own website is pretty straight forward:
A – Decide on what the site will be about and register a domain name
B – Find somewhere to host it so people can eventually see it
C – Plan the content and layout
D – Build the site and input the content
E – Publish it and submit it to search engines
The list may contain a few unfamiliar terms like ‘host’, ‘domain name’ and ‘submit it to search engines’ but all will be revealed in due course.
A basic website or Blog – For most, a simple but attractive site can be created in the form of a blog. The word ‘blog’ comes from term ‘web log’ and as the name suggests, it’s basically an online diary or journal which is updated regularly and made famous by ‘Wordpress’ which (as at 2014), is used by over 70 million websites worldwide. Despite being adopted for all manner of purposes it remains very easy to use in its basic form, hence its popularity. Once it’s setup it is easy to keep up-to date with images, videos and text, however it also has the potential to be used for very complex websites and ecommerce solutions ie online shops. WordPress sits right in the middle in terms of ease of use and functionality and is suitable for all ranges of technical ability, with a little effort, I must add.
There are however, many other alternatives to WordPress for your first website, which are flexible, intuitive and offer lots of scope for creativity and so, over the next few months, we’ll take a peep into a few selected alternatives. If you would like to take a step into the world of online creativity and don’t want to spend a fortune or just need some guidance on a project you have already started just drop us line or two at
techtalk@yorkshirereporter.co.uk
and we’ll point you in the right direction.
