Website Design

When it comes to building a web site, there are many different approaches someone can take. Any approach, you will discover, will have it's own benefits as well as its own set of problems. The hardest part about this is making a choice, and it usually involves comparing benefits gained and making tradeoffs.

Typically, the areas to be concerned about are initial site design, adding/editing HTML content, uploading and managing images, file management for non-HTML files such as PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint Presentations, etc., and the ability to integrate new functionality such as a photo gallery or custom applications when the time comes to do so.

Blogging

Many people interested in creating a web site look into the option of starting a blog. Blogs can be setup quickly, plus you have the option of setting up a blog for free on one of the more popular free blogging platforms. With no up front costs, it is an attractive option, but you won't be able to setup the blog on your own domain name. Free blogging platforms are in business because of advertising you have to live with, and, other restrictions that you might not like. Alternatively, you can install blogging software on your hosting account with your own domain name with a low cost hosting solution.

Wordpress

Lately, the single most popular approach for building your own website is to use the Wordpress platform. The biggest benefit of a Wordpress based site is that it comes with a built-in backend content management system which gives site owners the ability to easily create and maintain their own content. As your content evolves, it is a simple matter to login, locate the page, edit the content and then have the updated page immediately available to the public.

Uploading and managing images and other non-HTML content is also pretty easy for non-technical users. The Wordpress software is available for free, and can be easily installed from a cheap hosting account. Wordpress has many plugin features developed by the Wordpress community that will extend the functionality of your site with popular add-ons.