Articles

The purpose of this article is to start you down the road to creating your own web site. First you may ask why you should have a website at all. The website serves the same function in the virtual world of the internet as the storefront does in the real world of the downtown business district. You need a place where people can go to transact business.

It sounds funny but real money can be made in the virtual world known as the world wide web. Money can't literally be sent over phone lines and through cable modems, but you might think it can. So how does the money get from one place to another? How do you pay for something you bought on the internet when there is no slot to put your cash in?

The answer lies is the term 'electronic commerce'. Prior to the arrival of the global system of the Internet, commerce was quite different. Gold coins were replaced by 'paper currency'. Now, the Internet is all set to do away with paper currency too. Coming back to the subject of discussion, you must understand that a web site is the most important tool in the field of electronic commerce.

Why design a website? You need to have a platform to sell/buy products, isn't it? In the real world, we go to shops to buy commodities. In the world of e-commerce, web sites serve as 'online shopping platforms'. What is the best way to design a website? There are basically two platforms (or tools) used to create web sites- 'ASP' and 'PHP'.

A web site is made up of many, many 'template' (web templates) and 'pages '(web pages). Other tools like animation tools can also be used to design a website. All sites are linked to a server. 'Web space' can be purchased from a 'web host', depending on the girth of your site.

Professional web sites focus more on 'content' whereas personal web sites are flashy and stylish. Web designers (or website designers) are professionals who specialize in developing web sites. There are several books that you can read to know the ins and outs of 'website designing'.