How to Create a Web Page

Now that you have a domain and a web host, you need to create the first page for your web site. You have a few options for how to do this:

  • You could write the HTML code yourself. This requires some knowledge of HTML (which we aren't going to cover in this section), but isn't actually as daunting as it sounds, because HTML is relatively well-structured and intuitive.
  • You could use what's called a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. These allow you to create your web page graphically, by manipulating text, shapes and images on the screen until you get the desired result, and then create the HTML code for you.
    While these often seem a great way to get started, you can run into problems with them. They can produce inefficient HTML code, which increases the time taken for your pages to load. You can also run into problems with pages not displaying correctly in different browsers (see our page on Testing Your Website in Multiple Browsers for help in verifying that your pages display correctly in multiple configurations).
  • You could use a site design wizard (the PageWizard Site Builder in the Software / Services section of the control panel on Bluehost is one, but most other hosting services, including many of the free ones, have an equivalent tool). These allow you to choose a template, and then guide you through the creation of the site step-by-step.
    Be aware though, that while these wizards sound like a great idea at first, the functionality and flexibility they provide is limited. If you just want something very basic, then they might suffice. If you want anything more than that, then they're generally not a good choice.
  • Use a web designer. If you search online or in your telephone directory, you'll find that there are lots of web design services available.

In the following pages, we'll show a very quick example of how to create and publish your first web page using the free NVU editor.

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