Baby Steps
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First Steps Into The World Of On-line Commerce

Web Design
Hire a professional or do it yourself?

Professionally

Advantages


  • Your site will be designed by professionals who have much experience.

  • It will probably be more attractive than if you would do it yourself.

  • You will not have to use up your valuable time learning HTML.

  • You will not have to use up your valuable time designing your pages.

  • You will certainly have less stress and headaches that could be cause from designing your pages yourself.

Disadvantages

  • It will certainly cost you. The price varies with different sites, however. Big sites will cost more than small sites of course.
Yourself

Advantages


  • It won't cost you hardly anything (except perhaps the purchase of an HTML book and HTML editor).
  • You can have your pages look exactly how you want them to (if you have the HTML design skills).
  • No hassles or worries with the design company you would hire to design your site if you were not doing it yourself.

Disadvantages

  • You will have to spend much of your valuable time learning HTML.
  • You will have to spend much of your valuable time designing your pages.
  • You may not be able to make your pages appear the way you want because you may not know all the HTML necessary.
  • You may get very stressed out trying to figure out why your pages display properly in one browser but not in the other.
  • It will take you much longer to get your site up because of all of the HTML learning and the design process you will go through.

     Above are just a few of the advantages and disadvantages. If you are unsure, I recommend looking at a few HTML tutors. Read over them, try to design a simple test page. If after a while you find it too difficult, then pay a professional to design your pages.

     If you are going to get your site professionally designed, I recommend RB Associates. The preceeding link will take you to the main page. When you get there, just click the button on the left that says "Development". Once you read about their designing services, click the "Quick Quote" button on the left navigation menu to get an online quote of approximately how much it will cost you to get your site professionally designed.

     If you are going to design your site yourself, you should definately get some books on HTML and web design. You can not expect to have a good site if you do not design it properly. Below are some books that will help you learn good web designing skills and valuable web design tips.

Schreiber's Guide (NOT RATED)
This is what Schreiber says about the book, "This is not just another offer to teach you web design, but rather, a comprehensive collection of the best web sites to take you from webmaster wanna-be to expert designer. Experts will find all of the best web designing sites, Schreiber's has reviewed tens of thousands! The sites are explained, and you are taken through the WWW maze in the best order to really benefit from the dozens of FREE resources available."

HTML 4 for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide
Synopsis: "The acclaimed bestselling visual guide to learning HTML has been updated to cover all the new HTML tags for HTML 4. Perfect for beginners, this book presumes no prior knowledge of HTML or even the Internet. It uses clear, concise instructions for creating each element of the Web page, from titles and headers to creating links and adding tables, frames, forms, and multimedia. Full-color foldout chart." Read the reviews for this book.

Teach Yourself Web Publishing With Html 4 in a Week
Synopsis: "A revised and updated edition of one of the best introductory HTML tutorials on the market, this 'Teach Yourself' book covers the new HTML 'Cougar' specification, plus the Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 environments, as well as style sheets, Dynamic HTML, and XML. A support Web site contains all the source code for the book's examples." Read the reviews for this book.

Teach Yourself Html 4 in 24 Hours
Synopsis: "Oliver has written a carefully organized tutorial that teaches the beginning Web page author just what is needed to get a Web page up in the shortest possible time. The guide has been updated to cover all of the latest developments in HTML 4, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4, and Netscape Communicator 4--including Dynamic HTML and Cascading Style Sheets." Read the reviews for this book.

The Non-Designer's Web Book : An Easy Guide to Creating, Designing, and Posting Your Own Web Site
Synopsis: "An introducton to design principles for beginning Web users explains how to create a Web site without any code, how to integrate graphics into a personal Web page, and how to get their finished site up on the Web. Original. (Beginner)." Read the reviews for this book.

Effective Web Design : Master the Essentials (TM)
Synopsis: "A skills-based guide to Web design based on current W3 Consortium HTML 4 standards, 'browser-safe' graphics techniques, and advanced multi-media features in site designs, this text will appeal to all levels of Web users who are looking for design techniques based on the newest standard of HTML (version 4). The CD-ROM is loaded with the most valuable Web design tools." Read the reviews for this book.

Web by Design: The Complete Guide
Synopsis: "Here is a resource like no other, offering a synthesis of design expertise and technical knowledge that will help you build a functional and attractive site. Whether you're just getting started, moving to the Web from another medium, or refining long-held skills, you'll benefit from this book's rational, holistic approach to Web design. Going beyond design principles, this book will also help you solve information management problems and choose your Web development tools. Refer to the full-color insert on Web-safe colors and color combinations to make the best use of the Web's color palette." Read the reviews for this book.

Creating Killer Web Sites, Second Edition
Synopsis: "Though there are already books about web design, most are technical in nature, and none take this case study approach. The primary focus is on Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer's HTML extensions, with new material devoted to new tags. The book is aimed at those who have already designed a web site, as well as for those wannabe web site designers." Read the reviews for this book.

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