If You Build A HomePage,
They Will Come (Or Not!)

Building a webpage is challenging and fun! When I did mine, I felt compelled to keep improving it, which took me out Net Surfing. I found a ton of "You've Got a Great Webpage" awards. But I'd like to issue my own, "The Whiplash Award," to honor sites for the speed with which I hit the "Stop" and "Back" buttons.

BACKGROUND VS BACKGROUND

Weird, busy or yukky visual backgrounds can kill your page. Not even neon letters are readable against a montage of all your school pictures. Nobody will read dark blue letters against black. Don't laugh! It's being done! And be careful when experimenting with the new. Blinking, scrolling, and flashing stuff can turn off the viewer. And then viewer turns off YOU! If you have nothing to say, it won't matter. Let your content be your guide.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

In advertising, romance, and job hunting you get a few seconds to make your good impression. Graphics, music, luxurious backgrounds--they're wonderful. But I'd like to see them before someone carries me off to the grave. Give me a fast-loading front page with a deliciously tempting menu/intro that will lure me to the rest of your site.

FREE HOMEPAGES AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE

Actually, you will pay for most free sites by having someone's advertising all over your page. Do yourself a favor. Look up webpages hosted by your prospective free home. See how obstrusively the ads are placed, and how the ads look. Then make your selection accordingly.

A WORD ABOUT BROWSERS AND CRASHES

It's well worth your effort to view your new webpage on more than one browser and see how different it looks. My homepage looked fine to me (using Netscape). But then I saw it on Internet Explorer, and I made some fast changes! Keep in mind that not everybody has the latest computer or fastest connection. Sometimes a pagemaker gets so much stuff going on the site that it just shuts down some browsers. Let your prospective visitors be your guide.

WEBSITES TO HELP YOU BUILD A GOOD HOMEPAGE

So You Want To Make a Web Page!
HTML for Beginners at Dave's Site
Build a Homepage with Steve
HTML Made Really Easy
HTML Goodies
All About Web
HTML For Beginners

WEBPAGES TO TELL YOU WHAT TO AVOID (AND GIVE YOU A LAUGH)

Top 15 Mistakes of First Time Web Designers
Web Pages That Suck

SOURCES FOR GRAPHICS I HAVE KNOWN, USED, AND LOVED

Graphics from MediaBuilder
Graphics from IconBazaar
Graphics from Web Clip Art Mining Co.
Backgrounds from Dreamfires
Great Color Chart!

STILL WANT TO MAKE A WEBPAGE?
Visit my HTML Paint Shed and Tutorials.

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