The purpose of this web page is to give you an overview of information relevant to web design, web hosting, the coding of html/css, Photoshop and a little about SEO (search engine optimization).
We hope you'll find the following tips and resources useful as you broaden your web design knowledge.
If your web presence is hobby related, you may want to consider using a completely free tool (like Google's own Blogger.com) to create a blog. This way, you don't have to spend a dime. You won't need to buy a domain name, pay for web hosting or even buy a "theme" to create the look-and-feel of your site.
All of these aspects are provided to you free-of-charge and you can get your site/blog up and running in under an hour! In addition to this, Google makes it easy to monetize your new blog by serving up ads (referred to as Google's Adsense program) where Google shares a portion of the revenue they get from Advertisers anytime someone clicks on a Google Ad you are displaying.
However, if you are more serious about your online efforts and are attempting to build a "real" business, I strongly suggest you put a lot of thought into who you use for web hosting (and in regards to every other tool you purchase for your business).
Many times, my wife and I find our clients trying to opt for the "cheapest" hosting alternative only to find out later how costly a decision that can be.
One of my clients has a successful ecommerce business and before hiring me, had her website hosted with her original web developer (on their own in-house server).
Their "uptime" was horrible (costing her thousands of dollars), their server slow AND their customer support was only open during their normal 9-5 business hours so if a problem happened at 6pm... there was NO ONE to handle the situation until the following morning! That's not a good situation to be in as a business owner.
Now, while there are plenty of web hosts out there that do a good job, we use (and recommend) HostGator the majority of the time. The only time I wouldn't recommend them is if the client already had an established website getting a lot of traffic and in this instance, I'd probably recommend going with a dedicated server with someone like Rackspace.
Here are some things to consider when choosing a web hosting company/plan:
In my opinion, and personal experience, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than HostGator's "Business" Hosting Plan. Their Business Plan meets all of the criteria I mentioned above and is what I use and recommend. If you use This Link To Go To HostGator and coupon code, "404Page" (without the quotes) you'll save almost ten dollars off your first month's hosting fee.
When I first started building websites I was using Microsoft Frontpage (yeah... icky, I know) and then "graduated" to Microsoft Expression Web (which is pretty decent for a WYSIWYG Web Editor). My wife uses Dreamweaver but it was never that intuitive to me.
Then, I got "serious" about things and started to learn how to code html (xhtml really) and css entirely by hand and am continuing my learning in this direction.
Yeah, you need to have a bit of "geek" in you to code entirely with a text editor (like EditPlus3) but once you do it, it will give you a much better understanding of both html and css.
If you're more of a "designer" and less of a "geek," then I recommend you create your designs/layouts in Photoshop and then outsource the coding to a professional slicer/coder. The prices to have a PSD (Photoshop File) sliced and coded to valid XHTML/CSS have really dropped as of late and the turn-around times are really fast!
I've used PSDGator successfully a number of times now and am planning on giving rapidxhtml a try next as they will code a page for only $50 (provided you select the four-day turn-around option). Note: They will code your project in 8 hours or less if you have a tight deadline but of course, it does cost more.
If you'd like to learn the basics of how to slice/code direct from a PSD, I recommend this free resource: http://www.csslicingguide.com
If you'd like to dig deeper and learn how to become a Certified Web Developing Ninja, I recommend this free online resource: http://www.w3schools.com
If you're a Webmaster or Internet Marketer looking for a good selection of Free PHP Scripts, then you will really enjoy this resource...
Please Note: All of the scripts listed on the site are free but some can only be downloaded if you join the site's mailing list. (which is a small "price" to pay)
At the site, you'll find nearly 30 different scripts to choose from. Scripts that can help you... create contact forms, track clicks, track conversions, rotate banners, shorten (or cloak) affiliate links, create a true one-time-offer page, display a count-down timer on a page (useful for a product about to launch or an offer about to expire) and a whole lot more!
Again, these php scripts are completely FREE... and you may just find a script or two you really enjoy... I did.
You'll find their site here:
Free PHP Scripts
There are many free Photoshop tutorials online (I just searched on YouTube.com for the term "photoshop tutorial" and found they have about 108,000 videos indexed for that phrase) but if you want really high-end training, I strongly recommend you give Photoshop Top Secret a look.
Photoshop Top Secret was created by my main man, Mark Monciardini, and even though it wasn't cheap, it was worth every penny I spent! (and then some)
If you're serious about your design business and want to become a Photoshop Expert, you should definitely give Mark's Photoshop Top Secret Course a look here: http://www.photoshoptopsecret.com
Many web designers (most, in my opinion) know little-to-anything about SEO and do a great disservice to their clients as a direct result of their lack of understanding.
Now, some will argue that SEO is not the function of a web designer (and I would agree) but that needs to made clear to the client if that is the case. Most clients don't know anything about SEO and assume that their site will magically appear in the search engines a week after you've finished it.
While that thinking is certainly flawed, professional web designers should do their best to educate their clients... if you're not including even basic SEO as part of your package, let your clients' know! If you have some SEO knowledge, you can offer it to your clients as an "upsell" to your design services.
To gain a solid understanding of SEO, I recommend Aaron Wall's Online SEO Training Program here: http://training.seobook.com
