Before deciding to use Dreamweaver there are a few questions you must answer first. Some of the most important ones are: Are you planning on printing the pages or will your site exist solely online? It is very difficult to design a printable site using DreamWeaver. What web host are you using? Certain web hosts work better with Dreamweaver than others. Are you using a Mac or a PC? Dreamweaver is absolutely necessary for Mac users.
I highly recommend using CSS style sheets with Dreamweaver. These offer the user the easiest and best way to layout a site. Creating a site from scratch with tables in Dreamweaver is complicated and can be very frustrating. Also it is important to understand that Dreamweaver unlike FrontPage does not work like a Word Processor. The editor is not WYSIWYG. You must use the features and keys of the program to lay out your site and to format the text. It is also important to know the basics of HTML because although Dreamweaver allows you to create in a visual screen, it is often necessary to go into the coding part and play around with the HTML code in order to create and layout your page to your desired specifications.
It is also essential that you upload all of the portions of your site to your FTP server. Using a CSS style sheet will create automatically several additional images and pages, which must be loaded.
You must also understand that the downside to using a pre-prepared style sheet is that you are somewhat limited as to where you can put what on your pages. If this is important to you, then you will want to go through creating tables in which to put your information.
Remember that more is less. Although this is true with any webpage, it is especially true in Dreamweaver. Too many tables and or loose text will cause problems with the practicality and usability of your site.
You must also understand that extensive graphics and animation work great with Dreamweaver but only if they are programmed into Flash and integrated into your site.
For more information on how to use Dreamweaver, I recommend Dreamweaver for Dummies and Dreamweaver the Missing Manual. These two books are honestly the best resources out there.
I can't say enough about this marvelous web builder extraordinaire! The ease with which you can create a full blown web site or a quick mini-site is...well just awesome! You have to check it out for yourself to see what I'm talking about. But if you are baffled with how to use templates, add a link page, navigation, ftp uploading, site maps, and adding Google Adsense and affiliate links, XSitePro will walk you through it with video tutorials as well as a very responsive support group. I can build a great looking web site in 30 minutes or less, complete with Adsense, affiliate links, images and uploaded!
Here are a few I've created and I'm no web designer, believe me!
Ok, I'm not that artistic but I like to keep them simple and easy to navigate. That is important as most surfers click, scan for a few seconds and either stay or click off. You need above all, CONTENT! for the visitor or the Search Engines.
You need to choose the market you want to sell to, either your own product or an affiliate product. Digital Informational products are the best, still, because they don't require you to physically handle them, ship them etc. But you can find companies that will package your ebook,software product in a CD/DVD or printed manual. One that I recommend is http://ifulfill.com/
You can charge more for a physical product, DVD, audio or manual then a pdf doc. And you will out shine your competition.
Ok, a little off the subject :o)
After your choice of market or niche topic, you need to decide what kind of web site it is to be...an affiliate site where your main goal is to sell affiliate products or again your own product. You can get resell products all over the place at very good prices. The one I love is Surefirewealth. Jeremy Gliason is constantly adding new products and software plus has a new search box so you can find a reseller product in seconds.
Now that we know what direction we are heading, it is time to start to put it on paper or virtual real estate. This is the easy part, particularly with XSitePro (think I like this software? lol). I have to admit, I don't like writing my own sales copy and don't want to pay someone $1,000's to do it so I use already created sales letters at Infogoround and Content Goldmine by Ryan Deiss and Jimmy D. Brown. Content Goldmine gives you articles, e-courses, keyword lists and even their own research on the best affiliate products to sell! The bad news is that they only accept new members a few times a month and you will most likely have to be put on a waiting list. This is a good idea as you don't want 1,000's of other members competing for the same targeted audience. They give you the sales copy, images and the product (usually an ebook) with articles to plug in.
All you need to is import the sales page into your html builder with the images, add the articles with links to your product or affiliate or adsense (I have read that it is better to only have one...either adsense or affiliate links and not both as it dilutes the effectiveness). I haven't tested it myself but others have. Add your meta tags, (even though Google and other se's don't use them, but some se's do) create a site map so Google can find your articles and add keywords to your title, first paragraph and throughout the pages.
Upload your web pages with images to your web host and...Voila! A brand new web page for millions to see :o)
Oh yeah, make sure all the links and order buttons work! A great site with tons of freebies is http://www.echoecho.com/ Don't forget to get some traffic, and I have covered that thoroughly in my blog. But to get listed in Google within 24 hours submit an article to the article directories, ezine publishers and other article web sites with your resource box or bio with a link to your new web site. For a good article submitter that will shorten this tedious task drastically check out Article Marketer.
Both Annalaura Brown & Dan Farrell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Annalaura Brown has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Foreign Language and Language. AnnaLaura Brown is a successful team leader in an international organization. She can be contacted through She also runs an ecourse on. Annalaura Brown's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.
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