I know, you hear the ‘Too Hard’ basket calling already.
It certainly will, and it probably won’t stop, but you must resist with every fibre of your being if you are to advance to level uno, commonly known as your first 10 bucks.
Your first introduction to coding in html will almost definitely bring the same word to your lips as did mine, and that is… what?
The thing is, it is becoming more and more common that you are going to need html in many different professional positions. I have a friend who has just got a job selling real estate, but they expected her to know how to upload new images to their website, resize them and add content.
If you have never even heard of html, let alone tried to code in it, check out www.arachnoid.com, this page will teach you the basics as fast as humanly possible.
OK, that still didn’t really make any sense.
Try this, go up to ‘view’ in the toolbar of your browser, scroll down to where it says ‘source’ or ‘page source’ and up will come the code for this page that you are viewing.
That code you see, which is the language your browser speaks, displays all the information that you see on the page. In time, with the help of a html editor, you will come to understand this crazy language that only your browser understands.
I do advise doing a part time introductory course, but if you don’t have the time or the money there are plenty of online tutorials – try Dave’s Site for a start.
My first book on HTML was The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Web Page’ by Paul McFedries, now that and Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference’ never leaves my desk.
It really doesn’t take that much to master the basics, which is all you will need if you find a template that you like, but if you want it to be your own, there’s a learnin’ to be done.
If you are having a go at straight HTML and you are stuck with something let me know in the comments, I’ll do my best to help.
If all of this has just made you decide to throw the whole silly idea in the ‘Too Hard’ basket, then maybe you could think about getting someone to design an affiliate site for you. Put up an ad in the second semester first or second year web design class at your local university advertising ‘Beer in exchange for Website Design,’ you’ll find guys who will do it for a couple of dozen.
There are designers who are just starting out who will do it cheaply, or if you have some cash to invest, SiteBuildIt is a complete solution from concept to promotion, they are the only web design company in the world that not only promises attractive and functional sites, they deliver success.
Out of 56.1 million websites, 35% made the top 1%, 53% made the top 2% and 62% made the top 3%, quite incredible figures.
Well I’m feeling a bit broke, what can I do myself?
Getting someone else to do it all for you is by far the easiest method is you don’t have the time (or cash) on your hands, but for those of us who prefer a more hands on approach, the long and winding path starts here.