Building a WebSite

The term “Web Site” has evolved to include a bewildering array of, very different, mediums of online communication. The only common denominator is that they can be viewed and accessed on the internet.
A website may be giant behemoth of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of pages. It may involve complicated interactions with visitors. Offering text, audio and video. Enabling people to do online banking, book flights or managing whole companies. You are probably using many of them daily.
Of course these kinds of sites require a team of professional webmasters to build and maintain and cost a pretty penny.
On the other hand, a basic website can be as simple as one static text page, like a flyer or poster. No bells & whistles, not even graphics, yet still considered a “Website”.
A WebSite can be under your domain name and have your own host. It can be under your domain name but hosted as a subdomain on someone else’s site. Or your site can be a page on a large hosting site (think Blog or social sites like MySpace and most of the “free” hosting sites). When you create a site under the banner of another company not with your own domain name, you have minimal control and you are entirely dependent of the good fortunes of others. 
It all boils down to what your need are and how much money you are willing to spend.
A good webhost offers free programs that enable anyone to build a simple website with just a few clicks of a mouse.
More sophisticated website building software is readily available for free or at a very reasonable cost.
There is no reason why anyone who wants to, should not have a website.
If you offer for sale just one product/service you can create a “MiniSite” dedicated to this product/service only (see “MiniSite” ).

When it comes to creating your websites you have three basic options:

1. You are a programmer, a graphic designer and a web master. You create the whole project from scratch.

1. You are not a programmer/web designer but you are somewhat technically literate. You want to save money and retain control. You can find an array of software tools that will automate the creation of youry site (some recommendations enclosed below).   

1. Outsource the whole web creation & maintenance process. This of course is the least painful but usually the most expensive option.

But you can mitigate the cost by auctioning off your project for the most cost effective results.
How does it work?
You post your requirements on a few websites (list below) and have professional web designers and graphic designers bid for the job. You can see their previous work and their feedback score from other clients.
Your payment is held in escrow until the satisfactory completion of the job.
I use these sites often and have had a very positive experience.

Here are 2 of the better sites:
www.MarketingOverTheNet.com/info/Get-A-Free-Lancer.htm

www.MarketingOverTheNet.com/info/Script-Lance.htm
       
Get a fully functional website completely installed for $5 only. All you need to do is add content: http://OnLineLiveSite.com

Get a Free website builder:
www.MarketingOverTheNet.com/info/Free-Website-Builder.htm

Get a Web Designer Toolbox. Find here many links and leads to software and information: www.MarketingOverTheNet.com/info/Web-Design-Toolbox.htm

Keep in mind that whichever way you go you are the one who puts together the content.

Remember, when possible always use barter instead of cash (see “Barter for Everything”) .