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Here is a list of some great website tools for creating a
good webpage/website. The tools, websites, and services I decided
to list here had to meet three requirements to be listed: They
had to be free, they had to be small in size and they had to be
somewhat easy to use. Code (HTML) EditorI do not recommend using WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors like FrontPage. WYSIWYG editors are very limited in what you can do with visual style, layout and appearance. Also the code will be bigger then it needs to be. So my recommendation is that you learn HTML and use a real text editor with syntax highlighting.
MAX's HTML Beauty++ 2004
You can download Max's HTML Beauty++ 2004 editor here: http://www.htmlbeauty.com/ I have been using Max's HTML Beauty++ 2004 editor to make HTML documents for years. It is a great editor and it is free. Not only does it have proper syntax highlighting for HTML files, but it also does syntax highlighting for Javascript, PHP, XML (RSS files), VBScript, C++ and more. Tip: You can setup Max's HTML editor to instantly preview your HTML file in different browsers such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Netscape. To do this click on Tools -> Program Options.... Under "Preview" click on External Browsers. Follow the instructions below for each browser: Internet Explorer [+]
Mozilla Firefox [+]
Netscape Navigator [+]
Safari for PC [+]
Then you can use the "Preview" button
JavascriptHere are some tips for making Javascript code: Internet Explorer is really bad at telling you where your errors are at and what your errors are in Javascript. So I use Firefox to test my Javascript and see the errors. In firefox, load your html page and then click on Tools -> JavaScript Console to see any errors you might have. You can also use the Javascript Console in Netscape. To do this click on Tools -> Web Development -> JavaScript Console. Safari for PC also has a Javascript console but it is usually not shown in the menus. You have to activate it. To activate the Javascript console in Safari do the following:
Then is Safari you can use the Javascript Console by clicking on Debug -> Show Javascript Console. FTP Program
CoffeeCup Free FTP
CoffeeCup Free FTP can be downloaded here: http://www.coffeecup.com/free-ftp/. You need a good FTP program to upload your files to your server. CoffeeCup Free FTP can be used for that purpose. FTP Tip: Sometimes you need to download your HTML files from your server onto another computer for editing. If you download your HTML file using FTP and then find that your document has double line spacing instead of single spacing, re-download the file using FTP but beforehand change the "File Transfer Mode" to Binary instead of "Auto". Then the file should not have double line spacing. CoffeeCup FTP Tips:
Web Image Tools
If you have a copy of Paint Shop Pro by all means learn how to use it for the web. It has many great tools for creating and editing pictures and images for websites. But if you don't have Paint Shop Pro take a look at these free image and graphic tools and tips. Print Screen KeyThe Print Screen Key (PrtScn) is a very important key for making websites. Go to any webpage or even your desktop or a program and press the "Print Screen" key, then go into an image editing program such as Microsoft Paint and press Ctrl-V or click on Edit -> Paste. The image of the screen will then pop-up in the paint program. You can then crop the image (cut it to a smaller picture), resize the image and save it as JPG or GIF. I use the print screen key to take pictures for tutorials or to show an image of a tool in a program or to make an icon. Alt-Print Screen If you press Alt-Print Screen instead of taking a picture of the whole screen you will get a screen capture of the current active window. So if the current window is a small window it will just capture that window, then you can paste it in a paint program such as Microsoft Paint. An example of how to use this is to show a picture of a pop-up ad in an article about how not to click on bad pop-ups.
Microsoft Paint
Ms Paint is free, it comes with Windows and it can be used to make web pages look nice. A quick way to start Ms Paint is to click on Start -> Run and type in mspaint and press enter. I use Ms Paint to crop screen captures from the Print Screen key so I can show just a certain part of the screen in tutorials. I also use Paint to draw icons and buttons. Pros:Click here for tips and instructions on Ms Paint
IrfanView
You can download IrfanView here: http://www.irfanview.com/ or here: download.com. I use IrfanView to do some graphic editing that I cannot do with Ms Paint such as set a transparent background for GIF and PNG images. However, IrfanView does not have any drawing tools such as lines, shapes, and flood fill. Features
Click here for tips and instructions on IrfanView Ultimate PaintYou can download Ultimate Paint here: http://www.ultimatepaint.com/download.php. I use Ultimate Paint to edit images in ways that Ms Paint and IrfanView cannot, such as flood fill with transparency and threshold for GIFs and PNGs. Features
Click here for tips and instructions on using Ultimate Paint |
It is good to know who your target audience is for your website. That is where Web statistics comes in. It can tell you where your visitors are from, how they are finding your site and what time of day your website is getting the most traffic.
The following web stat services are free:
With StatCounter you can have an invisible web counter or a hit counter that tells users how many visitors you have received since a certain date.
Pros:
- Ease of use
- Keeps track of how many visitors are visiting your site every day.
- Can tell you how the last 100 visitors came to or found your site.
- Can tell you what state or country each visitor is from.
Cons:
- Only keeps statistics on the last 100 visitors to your website unless you pay for the service.
Google Analytics is a more powerful web statistics service but also a more confusing service. It does not include a hit counter, but has many options that you, as a webmaster can use to see who your audience is and what they are doing.
Pros:
- Free.
- Has charts and graphs.
- Keeps track of how many visitors are visiting your site every day.
- Can tell you how visitors found your site.
- Can tell you what state or country your visitors are from.
Cons:
- Somewhat difficult to use.
Here is a quick rundown of the affiliate advertising programs I have tried. This is how it works: You sign up with an affiliate program as a publisher. The affiliate program then gives you some code to put on your web page where you want their ads to be. There are generally two ways to make money:
PPC - Pay Per Click. With PPC you get paid a few pennies for each visitor that clicks on an advertisement from your web page. This is also sometimes called CPC (Cost Per Click).
PPA - Pay Per Action. With Pay Per Action you get paid, not when a visitor clicks on the ad, but when the visitor does an action such as: purchase something from the advertiser's website, sign-up for a newsletter, etc. You usually get paid a few dollars when the visitor completes the action. This is also sometimes referred to as CPA (Cost Per Action).
CPM - Cost Per 1,000 Impressions. With this type of advertising you place a banner ad on your website and the company pays you a certain amount for every 1,000 times the ad displays. It could be something like $4 for every 1,000 displays. So if you have 5,000 unique and "qualifying" visitors a day you would make about $20 a day at $4 CPM. This type of advertising could also include displaying pop-unders or pop-ups.
I have tried PPC, PPA and CPM affiliate programs. Here is a list of the programs I have tried and a rough estimate of the money I earned with the programs:
| Program | Website | Type | Money Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Adsense | PPC | Much more than enough to get a check every month* | |
| Yahoo Publisher Network | http://publisher.yahoo.com/ | PPC | Just barely enough to get a check every month* |
| Amazon Associates Program | http://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join | PPA | Not enough to get a check every month* |
| Commission Junction, Befree | http://www.cj.com | PPA | $0 |
| Linkshare | http://www.linkshare.com/ | PPA | $0 |
| Fastadvert | http://www.fastadvert.com/ | CPM - $1 per 1000 banner impressions | $0 |
| Lightspeed Affiliate Program | http://affiliates.lightspeedresearch.com/ | PPA | $0 |
| Performics | http://www.performics.com/ | PPA | $0 |
* Generally to get a check sent to you from an affiliate program you have to earn at least $100.00. Sometimes it is less, maybe $50.00.
As you can see, none of the PPA (Pay Per Action) affiliate programs made any money except for Amazon's. Even then it wasn't enough. I believe that the reason for this is that most PPA affiliate tracking is not done correctly. I think that there were some purchases through my website on these programs, but for some reason they were not tracked. The tracking algorithms or processes they have in place may not work correctly. Also users may have on their computers programs that erase cookies, which would also make it impossible to track PPA.
I also joined http://www.bidvertiser.com. They are also a PPC program. I know I did not make any money through them, but I am not sure if I had their ads up for over a month, so it wasn't a fair trial. If anyone has any information on bidvertiser I would like to hear it.
There are three affiliate companies that denied my applications. They are Tribal Fusion, Casale Media and ValueClick Media. I hear that if you can get accepted by these companies as a publisher then there are BIG payouts. But they do not accept many applications.
Tribal Fusion has high CPM (Cost Per Thousand) rates. That means they pay publishers a certain dollar amount for every thousand times that a banner advertisement is displayed. Their FAQ claims that they pay "publishers 55% of all revenue we secure for your site."
Casale Media also uses CPM (Cost Per Thousand) impressions ads. Their Features & Benefits page claims that Casale Media "offers its publishers the industry's highest payouts - 70% - and works on a strictly CPM basis, making it that much easier for publishers to reach their profit goals."
ValueClick Media again uses CPM (Cost Per Thousand) impression ad units. They include banners, pop-unders, rich media and video. They claim to give you "expert tools to earn the highest payouts and effective CPMs possible." They denied my application in December of 2005 and another application in December of 2007. My website apparently is not good enough for their standards.
You can accept donations to your site throught PayPal Donate or Amazon Honor System. Which is better? Paypal Donate vs. Amazon Honor System:
At the time of this writing it is free to sign up for PayPal Donate and there are no monthly fees. You are basically charged 2.9% of the total amount of the donation plus .30 cents. That means:
| Donation Amount | PayPal Takes | You get from PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| $1.00 | .33 cents (1 * 2.9% + .30) | .67 cents |
| $5.00 | .45 cents (5 * 2.9% + .30) | $4.55 |
| $10.00 | .59 cents (10 * 2.9% + .30) | $9.41 |
| $100.00 | $3.20 (100 * 2.9% + .30) | $96.80 |
For more information or to sign up go to: PayPal Donation Button.
For current prices go to PayPal Transaction Fees and Pricing Details. The PayPal website says these transaction prices are for US only. See International Payments.
At the time of this writing it is free to sign up for Amazon Honor System and there are no monthly fees. You are basically charged 2.9% of the total amount of the donation plus .30 cents. That means:
| Donation Amount | Amazon Takes | You get from Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| $1.00 | .33 cents (1 * 2.9% + .30) | .67 cents |
| $5.00 | .45 cents (5 * 2.9% + .30) | $4.55 |
| $10.00 | .59 cents (10 * 2.9% + .30) | $9.41 |
| $50.00 | $1.75 (50 * 2.9% + .30) | $48.25 |
For more information or to sign up go to: Amazon Honor System.
For current prices go to Payment Fees. Amazon's website does not say if there are different fees for US or International donations. However, according to the FAQ they only accept up to $50 for any individual transaction on the honor system.
Here we go. The most important way to make your website popular is to have it indexed by search engines and directories. So here I have a list of the most important website search engines to be indexed in from top to bottom. After that I will show you a list of the best sites that will submit your website to multiple search engines at one time.
Tip: Many experts will tell you that you only need to submit your main domain name to each search engine (Ex: http://www.yourdomain.com) and then if you have a link from there to all your other pages the search engine will index the other pages by itself. However, I find it more effective to submit each individual page that I want indexed in the search engine (Ex: http://www.yourdomain.com/page1.htm, http://www.yourdomain.com/page2.htm) rather then waiting on the search engine to index them.
Tip: I do not ever recommend paying websites money to have your site submitted to search engines. That includes Yahoo's pay for inclusion service.
Prospective clients in your area will most likely use business directories online (such as online yellow pages) to find a business in a specific category (i.e. auto repair, carpet cleaning). Therefore, you will want to submit your website to local business directories. There are usually business directories that are sponsored by your local city or county or other cities in the area. Find these and submit your business website to them. You will also want to submit your site to the following big business directories. The following directories offer free listings and include multiple cities:
Do you write web pages with interesting content that are like news articles? If so then you could make a simple article out of your web page and submit it to article submission sites. What is the benefit? At the end of the article you write a brief About the Author section, describing yourself and including a link to your website. This gives you traffic to your website.
Remember, though, that with article submission sites, others can take your article and put it on their website. But they are not allowed to change your article and are supposed to keep the "About the Author" section attached to the article also.
Here are what seem to be the most popular article submission sites at this time:
Allowed: HTML Tags: bold, italics, underline, br, pre, blockquote, XMP (to display HTML code), OL, UL. Links: Total of 6 active anchor tag links. (3 links you are affiliated with, and 3 links you are not affiliated with.)
Not Allowed: HTML tags: paragraph tag, javascript, images, font size or color, HR, H1, H2, H3.
Allowed: HTML Tags: They recommend that you do not use any HTML Tags except for anchor tags for links.
Allowed: HTML Tags: They do not mention any rules on the use of HTML tags. Most articles have none. But a few use line break, H1, and HTML character entities such as • to display •
Allowed: HTML Tags: They do not mention any rules on the use of HTML tags. Most articles have none. But a few use P, B, and BR.
URLs are allowed but HTML codes are automatically stripped out.
Article Submission Sites That Allow Images
I am including the following article submission sites for one reason only: They allow you to have images in the article. They are not very popular sites, but since they allow images they can be very useful.
Allowed: HTML Tags: CENTER, B, I, TT, HR, TABLE, colored text.
Not Allowed: Do not link to images outside of Weeno. Instructions to submit the images to weeno.
Once you have your RSS/XML file in place on your website you will then want to submit your RSS Feed to a RSS Search site, that way others will be able to find your feed when they are searching on one of these popular sites. However, before submitting your feed make sure it is accurately written by using the FEED Validator website: http://www.feedvalidator.org/
At the time of this writing, and as far as I am aware, these are the 10 most popular RSS submission sites:
To see the next 10 RSS Submission sites click the plus sign.
Submit Feed to Multiple Sites
And here are some RSS submission sites that will submit your RSS feed to multiple RSS search engines at one time. In order of popularity:
Press Release
If you have a new business, a new website, or are offering a new service within your business then you will want to announce it to the media. Here is a list of websites where you can submit your press release. Most of the Press Release websites offer a free service and a pay for service. The pay for service usually includes having your press release submitted to more news sites like Google News. However, I believe that making your website popular can be done for free, so I only recommend using the free services.
Press release websites in order of popularity:
Social Bookmarking Buttons
Personally I think all the social bookmarking sites, links and buttons are getting out of hand. There needs to be one standard bookmark button and it should automatically go to your preferred bookmarking website or program.
But as it is now, if you want your website visitors to tell others about your website you may want to add some social bookmarking buttons to your website. I feel that you should just add the most important social bookmark sites, so I will show you the code to add a button for those bookmark sites here:
| Check which buttons you want on your site | Highlight and copy the contents of the textbox below |
|---|---|
If that is not enough for you then try these websites:
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User Comments
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. Under
"Look in:" click on the drop down arrow and click on "Local
Disk (C:)", then click on each folder to get to the Internet
Explorer .exe file, usually Program Files ->
Internet Explorer -> iexplore.exe
(C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe).
to select
which browser you want to preview your HTML document in.