Ok, so you’ve built your website using our Dreamweaver tutorial – DreamweaverMadeSimple. Now it’s time to get it online.

You open you browser, go to google and type in “Web hosting provider” – and then sit there dumb founded looking at the 18,400,000 sites that turn up in google.

How can you possible choose the right website? They all tell you the same things -

• “We’re the best”
• “Get unlimited space with us”
• “Get unlimited bandwidth”
• “99.9% uptime” and the list goes on.

So how do you choose a hosting provider? you could start going through the list one by one, trying them out and seeing how they really stack up – but that could take you months – not to mention the hassle of changing moving your website and setting up new hosting accounts every time you find a “bum” provider.

So where does that leave you?

Well over the years we’ve tried a lot of different web hosting companies and we’ve spoken with lots of people using different ones. We’ve found one company that we’re comfortable recommending – and we’ve arranged 3 months free hosting for with them.

They’re a well established hosting providers with great rates and an unbeatable package.

I’ve created some simple step by step instructions for you here to help you get up and running.

Download the simple step by step instructions here: 3 Months free Web hosting

Leave us your comments and to let us know how you go.

I received a letter from Sam who wanted to know how to transfer an existing website into dreamweaver and then do some basic edits. It can be a bit complicated to explain in writing so I made a short video explaining the process.

You can watch the example dreamweaver tutorial that I mention in the video by visiting the homepage at http://www.dreamweavermadesimple.com, scrolling down the page and clicking on the “Sample Video” image

Also, if you’re after detailed dreamweaver tutorials showing you how to do a whole range of different tasks using dreamweaver you may want to check out our advanced dreamweaver tutorials at http://www.dreamweavermadesimpleadvanced.com.

I hope that answers your question for you Sam.

Mark.

Dreamweaver is a wonderful program for webmasters on any level. The synchronization, or “sync” function is a tool that has helped many. When you have established your site, and feature a number of pages, you may find updating can be tedious. You only make changes on a few pages and finish your updating. But, you lost track of precisely what information was updated and which files you need to publish. You are working with two copies of your web site, one on your hard drive, and one on your server.

Dreamweaver comes to the rescue. If you have an especially large site you can also benefit from this function. The best way to initial sync is to do so when you first start building your web site. When you are configuring your site definition you have a box to check under the “Remote Info” section. This will maintain your synchronization.

The sync feature uses the standard Get/Put functions that are in all of Dreamweaver. It will check to see which files are newest, those on your server, or those on your hard drive. If you are the sole proprietor of your web site, and there are no other individuals working on your web pages, you should avoid the “Check In/Check Out” function. There is a chance that the software will download an old file by mistake and overwrite your new pages.

“Check In/Check Out” is a function reserved for when a number of people work on the same site. This is a service that ensures everyone in the group has the most recent files from the web site. If your coworker uploads three changed web pages, when you use this function, Dreamweaver will download those new pages into your computer’s site.

To synchronize your site at this moment, right click anywhere in your “Files” panel. This should be to your right on the screen. You will then select “Synchronize.”

A menu box will appear for you to work with. You can either publish your entire site or just the sites you specify. Next, you will need to chose where you want to copy the newest files.

Selecting “Put New Files to Remove” tells the software to put the newest files on your computer onto the server.

Selecting “Get Newer Files from Remote” does the opposite. It looks for newer files on your server that will be downloaded onto your computer.

There is also a function called “Get and Put Newer Files” that will do both.

Your next step will be the “preview” area where you can see what files will be affected. If you have any doubts about deleting files you should act now. Once Dreamweaver overwrites or deletes web pages or graphics, you will likely not be able to reverse it.

When you are through you can click “OK” or “Cancel” to approve or stop the action. Once it has completed you are done.

Purchasing your domain name is the first step in creating your web site. After you buy that virtual property, you will need a host! Hosting companies provide a wonderful service. Few webmasters have the means, or the desire, to have their own servers at home. Servers function much like “mega” browsers. They are online all the time and store the web page files that visitors will access.

A nice analogy for this process involves real estate. Your domain name is your virtual land. This will be where your house, or web site, is constructed. When you own your acreage, you still aren’t through. You also need a home for your belongings. Online, you need a home for your web page files and graphics. A hosting company’s server provides this home.

Few general webmasters want to contend with home servers. They are fussy, complicated, and if there’s ever a crash, every file you have on that server goes with it.  Purchasing services is like leasing, but there are added benefits for webmasters.

Maintaining your web site through a reputable, professional hosting company offers you security. They are professionals and are trained to keep those servers running at all times. If your site is hacked, they will take care of it, because it means all their clients’ sites are in jeopardy. If there is a technical problem they will repair it. Most hosting companies also offer free technical support and accessories to “decorate” your virtual home with.

The better hosting companies will offer numerous options and will charge reasonable prices for their service. These companies will allow you to be as technical as you want, or as simple as you like.

When you have your domain and your hosting company selected, you will upload your files from your computer to the server. This is most often done through a process called FTP (file-transfer-protocol). Your hosting company will likely offer this service for you to upload files. If you prefer to work from your computer, there are many software programs that accomplish the same thing. Two popular FTP programs for the home computer are also free. They are Filezilla and CoffeeCup Free FTP.

The process is quick and easy for even the most non-technical webmaster. The internet is full of resources and information to help you on your way to domain administration.

Your domain name will have a direct influence on how you approach the rest of your business. The best names are simple and descriptive, but aren’t too long or short. Your name should reflect the purpose of your web site.

Descriptive names tend to offer more success because the traffic can see where they are going. If they see: “booksandmore.com” they know they will be visiting a site that sells both books and other materials or services.

It is not recommended to use acronyms as they are simply too confusing today. Staying with the example used above, the acronym for the book web site would be “bam.com.” This could be seen by visitors as “Brenda’s American Memoribilia,” “Baby and More,” or even, “Bistros and Markets.”

There is no “right” or “wrong” domain name and that can confuse potential webmasters. There’s no proven formula for choosing a name. Some webmasters go by results from any of the keyword analyzers online to find the best terms for their business. Some ask friends and families or go through business associates and see what they recommend.

When you look for a domain name, you can choose from a variety of extensions. The most common, as well as what they stand for, are highlighted here:

* .com – Commercial
* .org – Organization
* .biz – Business
* .net – Network
* .info- Information
* .edu- Education**
* .gov- Government**

**These extensions can only be used by established and accredited educational facilities or government branches. They are not available for general use.
The most common extension is “.com.” This is one you should try to purchase if it is available. Most people know the “.com” extension just from television commercials, even if they’ve never surfed the web.

The pressure do build the perfect domain can overwhelm you if you let it. Just remember to do the best you can. If you become convinced that the domain name is a big mistake on your part, you aren’t stuck with it. With the majority of domain names selling for around ten bucks a year, it’s easy to just move onto another, and let the first expire.

If you find you have a domain that you don’t want to waste money on, be cautious! Be certain to verify your site hasn’t been moved to an automated payment system. Many questionable registrar companies have surprised webmasters by slipping those annual domain charges onto their credit card. At this point, they will offer a refund, but you will likely do all the leg work of going between the registrar and your credit card company or bank. That’s a lot of hassle for ten or fifteen dollars.

Your domain name will tell the public a great deal about your company. If at all possible, always buy your domain name before even starting on the actual web site construction. This will make your job far easier.

When you have chosen your domain name, you can register at register your domain at www.idomainsmadesimple.com.

There will be several options available when you design your web site. There is an option of creating a personal information site, but few webmasters will be going this route. A personal information site involves little more than content for your interests. It may be a hobbyist site or to promote your work in an art field.

The majority of webmasters will be seeking a greater purpose for their site. Primarily, a business that can grow and actually generate revenue. Some webmasters want profits immediately when the site opens while others may focus their efforts on more long-term rewards. Will you be featuring a product? Is your product suited more towards general web traffic or other webmasters?

Before you can open your virtual doors to visitors, you need to pinpoint exactly what type of business you will operate. What will be the main function? The two most common web sites available are support sites or business generating web sites.

Support sites serve a necessary purpose for webmasters. They take care of your loose ends by way of organization, public relations, and technical support. Support sites usually offer their assistance for daily tasks to help your business run efficiently.

The opposite end of the spectrum will bring you to business generating web sites. They function much like referrers, sending traffic, and customers, your way through online marketing. They may utilize banner ads, text ads, or methods of exchange. Business generating sites are often used in conjunction with a heavy online marketing campaign.

Your marketing efforts will largely depend on the site you choose to create. Any business generating web site will require good, solid marketing strategies. You will need to have as many visitors as possible for your site to function adequately.

Support sites, on the other hand, need to be functional. It is imperative that they work as well as possible. Many webmasters operating support sites will often pay more attention to site maintenance and general improvement than marketing.

Your site choice will determine what direction you take. When you begin planning you should always allow for marketing and development costs. Early planning will keep the business running smoothly and greatly lessen the chaos of starting a business.

Building your web site is easier than ever today. The number of resources for webmasters multiplies faster than any other information online. Can you do it, too? Of course you can. Building your web site is as simple as updating a blog entry. All you need to do is to perform some research and gather some equipment.

Before you do anything technical, you should have the aesthetic qualities narrowed down. What design do you want? The easiest way to avoid feeling overwhelmed is to simply surf the web. What sites do you frequent the most? How are they designed? Which layouts do you enjoy the most?

Take three sheets of paper and narrow your favorite sites down to three. Use one web site for each piece of paper. What appeals to you? Do you like their colors? The spacing? Is the layout simplistic or ornate? Do even the bullets have customized graphics? Or do you like the professionalism of the design? Is it a no-nonsense layout that places all emphasis on the content? What are the qualities you don’t like or don’t want?

When you have the three web sites analyzed and considered, you can start to plan your own. What background colors work the best? You will be using your own discretion for this step. What is most readable? Do you prefer serif (i.e. Times New Roman, Georgia) or sans serif (i.e. Verdana, Arial) text? What colors do you like?

The colors should match, but should also provide a smooth visual experience for your visitor. Anyone who has been online for a few years will remember the once common presence of intensely bright colors for backgrounds. There was also the use of a single image repeated a thousand times throughout a single web page. What we learned from experience is that these designs were migraines waiting to happen.

When you have decided on your color scheme and the designs you prefer, you must next watch the video on wire framing. A wire frame is a general sample copy of your web site. It is a visual reference that will help you see your web site as it will appear upon completion.

Once these tasks are complete, you can begin your project in Dreamweaver.

Flash is all over the internet. These files are commonly played as animations, mini-movies, and short films. Flash is used as a means to advertise in all fields. But, Flash may do things you don’t anticipate. It may be something that will cause far more problems than advantages.

The internet is far older than many users believe. It was used as a military means of conveying information for decades before it became available to the general consumer. During this time this new medium had one sole purpose: the conveyance of information. It was used to relay data from location to another a great distance away.

Even when it became available to consumers during the 1980s, it was a skeleton of what it is today. Information was little more than words on the screen and only accessible to those wealthy enough to afford the peripherals necessary. It remained all about information until this point.

Through the 1990s, technology grew with the internet. As this medium became more available to consumers, the capabilities moved just as fast. Suddenly, the internet became all about visual imagery and pushing the browser to the edge of it’s ability.

One factor remains today that originated all those years ago. The internet is still all about information. This fact has been overshadowed by mammoth graphics, fussy layouts, and even Flash.

Flash is generated into two files. One that is uploaded to the server and one that is embedded into your web page. There is no denying Flash’s excellent visual appeal. However, it is a deceptive appeal that may cause many new webmasters to have migraines.

Flash is a tedious code to work with. Many new, and even experienced, webmasters download the “free templates” expecting the work to be done, and find it has only begun. Not only must you customize every link in the free files, you must do so on a frame-by-frame basis.

To add to the issues with Flash, it is not SEO friendly. The websites that have intricate and awesome movies on their launching page will likely have little traffic. The best ranking sites all have one quality in common: they didn’t ignore the purpose of the web.

Search engine spiders, crawlers, and bots are after information by way of text. They can’t read graphics, images, or flash files. Flash does not offer the language these services need to index your site or decide any actual ranking.

Flash also handicaps the majority of internet users. For example, in America, it is easy to believe everyone has high speed. Those who don’t have access to broadband can have satellite broadband. However, 20% of American internet users are limited to slow dial-up connections, regardless.

To add to the figures against Flash, American traffic is only around 21% of world internet traffic, regardless of connection. The numbers aren’t a great deal better for other countries. France averages around 25% of the population still limited to dial-up. Currently, Russia stands at around 52% of its population limited to dial-up connections.

Using technology that filters out all this traffic is akin to “shooting yourself in the foot.” If you are a graphic artist or photographer, you should create an interesting homepage that only uses thumbnail images. Your traffic will be expecting a great deal of images, but may not anticipate actually waiting on a 5 MB photograph to download. They will get frustrated or simply bored and leave.

Webmasters have around 10-30 seconds to interest a visitor. Your homepage should load within that time frame. Using a good, appealing design will give your site the visual interest you desire with the speed necessary online.

It is best if new webmasters or those new to Flash forgo this medium for a homepage. There is always an option to create a section of your web site specifically for Flash files where visitors can be warned. If you use it on your main pages, it will likely cause you to lose traffic. Using this information to your advantage ensures you won’t be filtering out traffic that should be enjoying your hard work.

Webmasters are busier today than ever before. With concentration on promotion, marketing, and SEO tactics, there’s little room for added problems arising from web page editing software. Unfortunately, webmasters today are bombarded with software programs all across the internet. Which do you choose?

Most hosting companies offer what is called an “onsite editor” or “webpage builder.” These programs can certainly accomplish the job and may provide an easy interface for those new to HTML. The disadvantage to using these programs is you will outgrow them quickly. Many aren’t capable of working with CSS or Php. Many limit your graphic usage or expect you choose a generic template from a set that every customer uses. This will limit your capability of making a unique and interesting site.

There are a number of free HTML editors online and many do support more advanced features. These may be good as a launching point for many webmasters, but also tend to be problematic. The software may be old or obsolete. The functioning may work great today, but can just as quickly throw bugs or other glitches your way.

Your software should offer a number of capabilities which aren’t commonly found in most programs. Do you want to use feedback forms? Your software should be able to work with at least Php. Do you like Flash on web sites? Can your software incorporate and work with Flash files? A surprising number of editors even today do not work with Flash, Php, or CGI.

It is important to remember that when you purchase web authoring software, you get what you pay for. It’s imperative that your product both satisfy your needs now and continue to do so in the future. Can your program grow as your skills do?

Web authoring software should not be a minor investment. It should be something that will last for years and be flexible enough to work with a range of design and programming languages.

Dreamweaver is the ultimate web authoring software for web designers. It is used by high tech web development companies as well as the home webmaster. It offers full capabilities for CSS, XHTML, and XML. Dreamweaver’s offerings do not stop there.

The Dreamweaver software can incorporate and play Flash files in the WYSWYG editor. It offers a three-way interface for coding work where the webmaster can view the page as it will be when published, as pure code, or as a split screen of both.

Dreamweaver is compatible with a wide range of programming languages as well as design code. It can help you with Php, ColdFusion, Javascript and JSP just to name a few. Dreamweaver offers many benefits for beginning webmasters and advanced capabilities for experienced users.

When you are deciding on your web authoring software, Dreamweaver should be the first choice. Few programs offer such flexibility and durability as Dreamweaver.

Keep in Mind that Dreamweaver is a professional web design program and can sometimes be a little overwhelming for beginner. The good news is there a lots of great tutorials around for dreamweaver.

You’ll find some good tutorials at www.adobe.com and you’ll also find some good free video tutorials on youtube.com – Just visit youtube.com and do a search for dreamweaver tutorials. On the other hand there are some great tutorials available for purchase such as www.dreamweavermadesimple.com and www.dreamweaverbeginnertips.com