How to Make a Cool Website

1. Decide on the layout. How many columns should the pages have? Do you want a header image or would you rather leave the top portion of the site blank? Will there be ads on the page from sites such as Google's Adsense? Will you want a blog or photo gallery? Many website providers (Google, Yahoo, Webs, etc.) use a WYSIWYG ('what you see is what you get') engine. Instead of learning copious amounts of code and how to make tables in HTML, these Web hosts make it so you can visually see what you're changing.
2. Use sites such as Color Combos (see Reference 1) to play around with your color pallet. You can also type 'web color chart' in Google and look at the sites listed there as well. Color is an important component of a website. Some combinations are visually appealing while others could send your visitors running away. You'll notice on these sites that the colors don't have names, but six-digit numbers. These are color codes and what your Web host may ask for when you want to change the colors. For example, the default for white is FFFFFF, and the default for black is 000000. Play with the pallet until you see something you like and write down the numbers of those colors.

3. Brand yourself. Add a logo to your website created either by yourself or a Web designer and place it on the pages of your site. Your visitors will notice the logo and connect it to whatever products or services you offer. Make sure the logo stands out from your color pallet. Branding also has a lot to do with the way your writing comes across the screen. Keep it short, simple and professional.
4. Decide what pages your site will need. Your main page should welcome visitors and customers, explain what you offer and possibly provide an update or two on what the company's doing. In addition to that, do you want a blog? How about a photo gallery? Don't forget to add a 'contact us' page so visitors can reach you with any questions. If this is a personal site, you can add a biography as well as a recent photo.
5. Write up your content in a word processor using its spell checker. Nothing looks worse than typos on a live website. Once they're clear of spelling errors you can add the text to your pages and publish to the Web. Try and avoid publishing your website until it's complete. Visiting an unfinished website can be frustrating, especially if the visitor wants to learn more when that additional information isn't available.