The Web Design FAQ or "Why should I pay someone to do this web stuff when it looks so easy?"

Can I just do my web site on my own?
Can I do part of it myself, and let someone else finish it?
What are the average rates for designers?
How do I tell if the designers are good?
What is a WYSIWYG editor, and why should I care?
What can I do to cut the costs to myself?

I still want to do it myself. Where can I learn?
What should I make sure my site has?
What should my site avoid?
Are there programs to help me?

What do I look for in a web space provider?

Can I just do my web site on my own?
Certainly! There is a great tradition of doing one's own pages. The better question is: "Do I really WANT to do my own pages?" If the letters HTML, CSS, SSL, CGI, and SSI scare you, or you don't want to spend a few months learning the basic foundations, you might however want to let a professional design and implement your site. Likewise if you are doing something complex or tricky, you will want a professional.

(Surgeon General's Warning: Attempting to create a web site you are not prepared for can promote grey hair and nervous breakdowns.)
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Can I do part of it myself, and let someone else finish it?
Yes, you can do this as well. But we certainly don't recommend it. The more times a site changes hands, the more errors will creep in. In addition, the style of the site will go progressively more schizophrenic as its driving force changes. The only antidote to this is a full rewrite, which ends up costing more time and money than just having the other person do it all in the first place.
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What are the average rates for designers?
The average rates depend on the area you are looking in. A designer in California may be charging $100 an hour or more, while an equal designer in the heartlands could be charging as little as $50 an hour. As geographic locations don't matter much in the design business, we recommend you shop around for the better rates. One of the marvelous things about the Internet is that whoever you get does not need to be anywhere close to the host machine to do the work.
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How do I tell if the designers are good?
One of the best ways to judge a designer is by his own site. Look around it and check for things such as broken links, obvious errors, and speed of loading. Does the site 'feel' well done, does it look professional? A slightly less obvious thing to check for is to make sure the designer actually created his own site. Finally, a good designer should be accessible by email and willing to discuss terms, rates, and any details that you are interested in. Replies should not take more than two days, and not more than a single day if he is working on your site.
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What is a WYSIWYG editor, and why should I care?
A WYSIWYG editor (pronounced wizzywig for unknown reasons) is a visual editor. It stands for What You See Is What You Get. They are great for people who know art, but have no idea how to actually program. Which brings us to why you should care. ;-) Namely the fact that the person using it has a good chance of not knowing how to program.

For those of you out there saying "So what?", imagine that you had your car custom built. You had the best artist in the area detail it and paint it. Unfortunately, the same artist built the engine and the rest of the parts. It looks great, but doesn't run so well.

(Editors Note: This does NOT mean that everyone using a visual design program knows nothing about the mechanics of programing. It simply means that the editors of this FAQ trust those who do rely on WYSIWYG programs about as far as we could toss them and their favorite work machine.)
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What can I do to cut the costs to myself?
Two words: Be Prepared. Have files with the text you want on the page, have a good idea of what the graphics ought to look like, and know what feel you are looking for. The less the designer has to retrace his steps because of a changed idea on your part, the less the price will rise. Likewise, the less time the designer has to spend on mindless typing and retyping of what should be prepared material on your part, the less fat will appear on the bill. The average designer charges by the hour, it doesn't matter if that hour is filled with drudgery or inspired creativity, so minimize the cost by minimizing the drudgery.
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I still want to do it myself. Where can I learn?
There are a variety of excellent resources if you want to take the time to learn. The best online resource is http://www.htmlgoodies.com/. Book wise, you would want an industrial streagth teach-it-all book. For good site design, skip the quick books. The best of the crop are really books such as Platinum Edition Using HTML 4, XML, and Java 1.2 that have the vast majority of what you will need included for easy reference. You will find a well bookmarked copy of either this book or a similar one on the shelves of most professionals.

(Editor's Note: The Masochist Help Line is availible 24 hours a day 7 days a week at 1-800-HURT-ME2)
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What should I make sure my site has?
A quality site has many things. It should be interactive, attractively done, fast loading, easy to navigate, content rich, well organized, and having a special 'feel' all its own.
(This answer payed for by the National Council for Scaring New Site Owners (NCSNSO).

(Editor's Note: While all of that sounds scary, its acceptable for a new site to not have all elements. Quality sites evolve over time to include all elements.)
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What should my site avoid?
There are many things to avoid in a site: lots of blinking text, heavy graphic usage, slow load times, poor color choices, lots of animation, bad look and feel, and low content. If even one visitor winces, you may want to consider changing the look.

(Awards you DON'T want: The Worst of the Web.)
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Are there programs to help me?
There are veritable tons of programs to help you create your web page. Besides the many graphics programs to help in the sprucing up of your site, there are two that stand out to assist in the actual coding of it. If you really really want to use a WYSIWYG editor, try the popular Microsoft FrontPage 98. If on the other hand you would like to try real web design, we whole heartedly recommend the HomeSite v3.0 editor.

(Editor's Note: We reserve the right to say "I told you so!" if any WYSIWYG editor mangels your website.)
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What do I look for in a web space provider?
For an average provider offering a $20 a month account, you should expect the following:

• A minimum of 50 megabytes of storage space
• UNLIMITED data transfer
• At least one POP3 mail account
• 24 hour upload and modification privileges
• CGI access, as well as the option for SSI
• Quick and accurate trouble shooting
• Domain name hosting
• Redundant connection to the internet, preferably on T3 or dual T3
• SSL if you need e-commerce support

In addition to these things, read the licence agreement they provide, and surf a few of the sites they host. Your website is your online home, so be carefull who you rent from.
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since 1/27/2000.