Webmastering 411 | Eevee's HQ

Ooooh new stuff coming soon (we also have a new cron thingamabobber :D)

Webmastering 411

I bring you "Webmastering 411", a guide that will take you through the process of becoming a webmaster. May I first add that starting, building, maintaining and promoting a website isn't for the weak; it takes time, effort, and persistence. I'll be stressing those points throughout the guide, so look out...

1: Conceptualizing...

"Conceptualizing" means to "conceptualate", or in other words, think. If you're gonna make a website, you not only have to put in "time" and "effort", but "thought" as well. Here's some things to think about.

Name
Topic - Pokemon? Gaming? Anime?
Content - what kind of content? News? Guides? Games?
Design - yes, even as far as what it'll look like... Try drawing it out.

1.1: Name
First up is your naaame. Your naaaaaaaame~~~!! Your name is unique; it can't sound like anybody else's. So, if there's a site named "Eevee's Headquarters", don't make it "Espeon's Headquarters", or "Eevee's Hideout". It's too similiar.

Since you'll be stuck with your name for a LONG time, you need to think about it. It's stupid to think up a name and then instantly use it. Give it a couple days, ask people their opinions; then make a decision.

1.2: Topic
Although I'm fairly sure your website will be a Pokemon fansite, it may be a mix of Zelda, Anime, or anything else. Decide what topic your site is going to revolve around. Maybe it'll be a little Pokemon, a little Digimon, a little graphics... Or maybe 100% graphics? Then again, you like Mario...

... And so on. With topic, you can be a little easier on the thought - you can always change what content your website offers. Though, it's probably a good idea that your site's topic relates to its name.

1.3: Content
For me, it's been pretty simple. Guides for newbies, intermediate, and advanced coders - fun games and challenges, and in EHQ3, a text RPG and a lot of dynamic community functions.

There are a LOT of different ways to present your visitors content. Websites with free Pokemon images (as long as they're good quality) get VERY popular - the same with sites with guides and unique games. It may be easier, and funner, to go down that path. However, if your heart is set on being a reporter, so be it.

Though, may I warn you, starting a news site isn't easy. It's always an option to make other news sites your resource - but will that ever put you at the top? Unlikely. If you want to be a successful news site, like Serebii.net, you need to be a real reporter and read press conferences, subscribe to magazines, and update daily (or every other day) with news. Your visitors want the scoop! Don't deny them what they were promised!

1.4: Design
Oooh, design! Your website should be, at the very least, pretty. As stated in Looks are Everything, your site may have wonderful content, but great design and graphics are key to success. If you haven't designed a layout before, you may want to check out our Layout Guide.

We'll tell you a little about how your design should work, in any case. To begin with, your colors should look good together - choose 4 or 5 and work with them, and you should be fine. Just make sure they look together... bright yellow and brown generally look like diarrhea. Think of the categories, graphics, mascots, etc that will be on your layout - just make it unique!

2: Setting it Up

Now it's finally time to start. It's time to set up your website. With your ideas and thoughts firmly in place, you should begin with locating a host that fits you. When you register with a "host" - a company that stores peoples' websites on their servers and keeps them alive and well over the internet - you receive a domain (the address to your site, like www.host.com/yoursite or www.yoursite.host.com), a username and password to access your account, and probably some more.

When you're looking to start a website, you should always start out free, even though you don't get your own www.yoursite.com. And, as goes with free hosts (where you - OF COURSE - don't have to pay), your first thought should be: MORE, MORE, MORE!

The most basic host should provide you with:

Acceptable domain - site.host.co.uk/id?=yoursite is NOT okay.
FTP. Or, at least, an online file manager to upload, edit, and manage your files.
SSI support (maybe PHP, too)

I know two very good hosts - 50webs and ByetHost. If you register there, I think you'll be happy.

Now that you have your website set up with a fabulous domain.host.com, you need to create an "alias". An alias is the name that you go by online - it's very unsafe to go by your real name, and giving out your last name is just not okay! So it's always better to come up with a cool name for your online self. If you need help, visit our Alias Guide.

Wow... You're getting along nicely. Next up is to make an email. It's quite necessary to have an email when starting a website. In fact, you can't really function without one! If you all ready have one, you can use it - but if it has your name in it, it's time to change. So, using your cool new alias, make a new email address. My favorite email hosts are Hotmail and Gmail.

3: Designing, Writing, and Coding

This is the hard part. This is where the real time, effort and persistance comes into play. Now, you're completely finished with the easy part, setting up. All that's left is to design your layout, write your content, and then code it!

This guide doesn't cover learning how to code or make layouts, so we'll just have to leave you with links to some of our other guides that do. Here's some tips that should guide you in the right direction...

Designing

Your layout should be proportionate. Make enough room to fit in links, and make sure your navigation headers (if any) span the width of the menu, or at least, most of it.
Choosing the right colors is really important. Don't let them conflict... our Sister Site has a nice page for free color combinations.
There has to be enough room on your menus and content areas for sufficient content! A good layout is about 750-800px wide.

Writing

Use proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It may take longer, but your efforts will pay off.
Lots of one-paragraph pages generally aren't very popular. Take some time... make 'em nice and long.
When writing guides, ALWAYS assume that the reader doesn't know a thing that you do. Just to be on the safe side.

Coding

Yeah... Unfortunately, you'll have to learn how to code if you want to manage your site properly. We have an HTML guide if you're a newbie looking to learn.

4: Selling your Site

No, no, no, we don't mean literally "selling" it, we mean "selling it to the visitors" - in other words, attracting people and getting your web traffic going. Now your site is, for the most part, somewhat complete (though no site is ever "finished"), you're ready for the masses to come streaming in to complement you on your success!

But where are they?

4.1: Affiliates
Affiliates are the number one way to attract visitors. Not only do you link to them, providing hits their way, but they link to you, which sends some of their visitors your way. Affiliation is when two sites jointly (meaning mutually, which means you both agree) add each others' links to their websites.

Most sites have set rules on affiliation. Some require you to be a certain topic, or have a certain amount of hits or pages - ALWAYS read their rules, and only ask them if you fit into their criteria. Just think about it this way: If your affiliate can't benefit from you, then there's no point in them affiliating with you in the first place.

4.2: Just being around
If you have friends, it's likely your traffic will start going up without you even trying. Try joining other websites' forums, making friends with the webmasters, and hanging around shoutboxes and whatnot. If you're an active part of your site subject's community, more people will know you and want to visit your website.

May I also add that plugboards are a great place to advertise your button.

And, honestly, that's it. There's not a lot you can do to increase your traffic besides affiliate, affiliate, affiliate and affiliate more; adding cool new content will, of course, attract more visitors, so if you're always updating, you'll always be more popular.

Hope this guide was helpful! Good luck with your website! If you need any help, contact me.