The basics of how to design, build and run your own professional website on a budget and establish a winning Web presence

An effective website is an essential marketing tool for most companies and professionals.

Getting professional designers to create a site is either expensive and time consuming or cheap, with predictably nasty results.

The key to good web design is not technical knowledge but understanding your business and thinking carefully about the image and identity you want to communicate to the market.

This two day workshop will introduce beginners to the basic tools and techniques for designing, implementing and running a simple but effective website. Without programming, IT expertise or great expense. From this workshop - and some practice in knowing where to look for more - you will be able to build eye-catching, professional-looking websites for your business.

During the workshop you will have hands on experience of building and launching a site and the various techniques involved. All you need is common sense, a little design flair and some hard work.

The workshop assumes no prior knowledge of website design or production but reasonable basic PC skills (Windows, word processing) are essential

Site optimised for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator versions 4 and above, 800 x 600 resolution, 16 bit colours or better. Design and implementation by Viegas Bennett Consulting.

Copyright © Clive Viegas Bennett 1999-2005

Outline programme content

What is my site for?
· Target market
· User needs
· Company image and identity

Message and design
· Words, words, words
· Consistency and style

Technical basics
· What is a website?
· Hyperlinks
· HTML concepts
· Browser variations
· Basic tools
· Domains and hosting

Layout basics
· File structure
· Layout tables
· Navigation
· Use of colour and space
· Fonts

Handling images
· Manipulating pictures
· Drawing tools
· File types and sizes
· Image properties

Launching your site
· Choosing domains
· Hosting options
· Uploading your site - FTP
· Search engine registration
· Maintenance
· E-mail administration