Buying Web Site Design Software

• Categorizing alternative software development tools
• Understanding HTML and other technical terms
• Selecting and integrated solution for your Web site
• Choosing an off-the-shelf package to develop your Web site

Building a great Web site takes more than a "dot com" in your name. It takes a great vision-and the ability to pick products and services that can turn that vision into e-reality.

If you were going to build a house, would you begin by chopping trees down in the forest? For most people, the answer to this question is an emphatic "No." Likewise, if you want to build a Web site, you don't need to start by learning how to program with HTML or Java. There are plenty of software tools on the market that make Web site creation a relatively painless process.

You can visualize software tools as falling into two separate categories. The first category includes software tools that are provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), Web hosting service, or online mall. These tools are integrated with the type of service you choose and are designed to get you up and running quickly. The second category consists of off-the-shelf software packages that are loaded onto your computer. These software packages give you more flexibility than the integrated tools, but still give you the capability to get up and running quickly.

No matter whether you select an integrated solution from your software provider, or an off-the-shelf software package, there are a few technical terms that you must understand. Some of them are as simple as WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get). Others are more complicated, like the bits, bytes, megabytes, and gigabytes that are used to measure disk space or capacity.

Before you make your final decision on the type of software tools you are going to use to create your Web site, evaluate your requirements thoroughly. If you don't want to pay for a separate domain name, Web hosting service, and software package, then you should consider either a free service like Max Pages, or one provided by your Internet Service Provider, like AOL Personal Publisher. On the other hand, if you want complete design flexibility and powerful development tools, then you will need to go with something like Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver.