Various Website Builders / Designers

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Unless you just want to become a designer, it's not necessary to learn coding to create a nice looking website today.

No longer do you have to create your own HTML website from scratch, download/customize templates or learn how to FTP files. There are so many options that involve little or no technical experience nowadays.

Here are some options for creating your website...

WordPress

WordPress is the #1 platform for creating websites today because it's quick, powerful, and quickly becoming the industry standard for building websites.

You simply select a template, add your text, pictures, video and you're ready to go! Watch my WordPress 101 video below...

The fastest way to get started with WordPress is to choose a host that has WordPress hosting so you can begin your site immediately.

WordPress comes with thousands of template designs to choose from, and what's cool is you can swap out themes pretty easily.

Learn more about creating a WordPress site here.

Artisteer

Artisteer is an awesome choice if you're going to create a static website like this one. And if you aren't familiar with the differences between static websites and blogs, read this article.

Want to learn more about Artisteer? Watch the video below...

Artisteer can be used for blogs too, but most people use it to design their static websites.

Get Artisteer here.

Dreamweaver

This software is also for static websites and is really best if you want to understand how to code HTML and CSS.

Dreamweaver assumes you want to learn the basics for website development and design. If this describes you, this is probably one of the best tools to learn.

I use DW for this website and learned a lot from Lynda.com.

Watch my tutorial below...

You can buy Dreamweaver here.

Site Build It! (SBI)

SBI! is much more than a web builder. It's a complete system that teaches you how to create a static website and make money with Google AdSense, affiliate marketing and more.

Unlike the options mentioned above, it does not only focus on building and design, it actually teaches you how to create a web business from scratch. There is help with brainstorming and finding a profitable topic, writing content and marketing your site.

It's a perfect system for beginners who need step by step instructions for how to start becaue there are video tutorials to help walk you through.

It's important to note that SBI! is not for blogging. If you want to blog, you should go with WordPress above.

However, Ken Evoy, the owner of Site Build It! has been openly critical of blogs saying they are not the best way to build a business because of how the content is organized/structured (by date/category).

Learn more about why he says static sites are better than blogs.

I should also mention that in early 2012, SiteSell gave their block builder a major overhaul and now their templates are much more current, flexible and easier to customize.

They don't look as good as WordPress, but they are better than the earlier versions. Here's a quick video.

Click here to learn more about Site Build It!.

Building Your Website

In order to publish your website to the Internet with one of the above options, you'll need a domain name and web hosting (except Site Build It!).

SBI! comes with the domain and hosting so that is part of their subscription. Everything you need to get started is provided under one login area. It's very convenient.

So once you decide which method you're going to choose, you can get both of those at my site, WebsitePalace.com.

But first, read up on choosing the right domain name for your site.

Web Design Tips for Today

Web design has evolved over the years. Today, design is all about clean layouts, large fonts and minimal graphics. The days of flashing images, busy backgrounds and cluttered columns are gone.

If you're going to use WordPress for your website, I would recommend the Genesis themes because they have some of the cleanest, most professional layouts around.

I used their theme for my Napturally Curly blog and I really love how fresh and simple the design is. This is the present and future of web design.

Designing Landing Pages

Need a squeeze/landing page? Here's a tutorial and a free template you can download and customize. Click here to learn more.

How to Make a Simple, Static HTML Web Page

If you just want to learn the basics of creating basic web pages in HTML, you can actually practice on your computer using a simple text file. Learn how to create a web page here.

Curious about costs for creating a website? Click here.

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