Structure of a website    

There are various layouts chosen by webmasters when building a webpage. It can have three panels, i.e. a left, centre and right panels OR only a left and centre panel OR only a centre and right panel.  Decide on the layout first and then pick a template which matches your decision.  

A normal website will have a Home page and other pages depending on what your website is all about. The Home Page is something like an index page in a book as it tells the visitor as soon as he enters about the contents of the website and what he will find where. It will be a good idea to create a page for each different subject under your main chosen topic.  

Let’s look now at the various sections in a website 

The Header or Banner – This is the most important part of your website. It will give the name of your business, your logo and maybe a catch phrase. It will also have some graphics relevant to the theme of your website. The header should be the same for all the pages of your website to ensure consistency. 

How to get the Header ?  

The website builder software will provide a good variety Headers or Templates. If you are not happy with it, you could buy a template which has a header that catches your fancy. Some people use programs like Photoshop to create their own headers. You can buy images for your Header/Website from the big collection at very cheap rates from www.bigstockphoto.com    

  Use images 

You can sprinkle some images relevant to the topic throughout your website to make it more attractive. But keep the graphics small and not too many as otherwise the website and/or pages will be slow to load. And you know that the average visitor will soon leave a slow loading website or page.  

The other main parts of a typical website are:-  

The Info Bar  – Comes directly under the Header and above the left, main and right panels.  

The Left Panel  – Is placed on the left side of the web page. It usually contains the navigation menu and some webmasters place affiliate ads below that. (If you are building the website, you are the Webmaster)  

The Right Panel  – It runs down the right side of your web page. It is usually used for affiliate ads, for example, Google Adsense ads.  

The Main Panel Header  – It appears above your main panel (where your page content will appear) You can put your page title here.  

The Main Panel  – This is where you will put your page content.  

The Main Panel Footer  – This is located just below the main panel  

The Page Footer  – It appears at the bottom of every page below the left, main and right panels.   

Important: Do not forget put up a Privacy Policy and a Disclaimer notice on your website. 

Ensure that you add a Sitemap which will tell search engines about the pages on your site which can be crawled. Other recommendations are to put a Feedback form and a site search box on every page. Look for these features in the Website Builder, if you have bought one. 

Suggested sequence to follow for building your website:  

	Decide on your topic and on the number of pages your website will contain.
	Write down the titles for each of your other pages in addition to your Home page.
	Surf the Net and check out the style, color and layout of other websites
	Check out the templates that come with the website builder software.
	If you are not happy with it, you can either buy one from the many that are available on the Net.
	Next go through the tutorial or manual that comes with the software to get a general idea of its features and power.

Now comes the fun part, when you actually start building your website.  

It could be a trial, error and success experience for a newbie. But, the joy you feel when you get it right is well worth the effort.   

Once you have chosen the template/layout, start by building one section at a time.   

Keep a hard copy of the tutorial by your side and keep at it till you get it right.  

Some of you may succeed right away and others may take a little more time, but nevertheless you will taste success in no time, in creating a good website, I mean.  

Step by step 

Though the software has many features for you to build a full fledged ecommerce website, it is advisable to build a basic one first and then add all the other components later on. The most encouraging aspect of this whole exercise is that you will pick up a lot of useful information along the way.  

For more information on that, please bookmark this site and check the resource page of this website often for useful information.  

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