| Twenty Steps to Internet Marketing Step 6: Thou Shalt Learn Some HTML |
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Web browsers don't understand plain English. They read weird languages and codes dreamed up by clever computer geeks. A common language is HTML which stands for hypertext markup language. Your word processor will probably convert your writings to HTML but I don't advise doing that. You may get a lot of gobbledygook HTML that will just slow things down. There are plenty of free HTML editors and you can take free courses on the Internet to learn what you need to know.
In this article we are talking about the Hypertext Markup language. It is spoken by Internet browsers world wide. It is a language they understand. I can not use any markup language in this article because the site software will try to read the code. Markup language is not like learning Greek. Well, when I click "Source" in the "View" menu of my browser on Google or Yahoo, it looks like Greek. But you do not have to write markup language like the wizards on those sites. You can keep things simple. There are plenty of free sites that will tell you how to write code that browsers can read. Do Not Pay to learn the code. There are a number of sites on the Internet that will teach you. It is better to get an editor that will put the hypertext markup language code where you need it. However, you can go to: Go to www.html.net and take the 15 free lessons. But get an editor that will put the hypertext markup language code where you need it. Your word processor will convert your document to markup language but I don't recommend it. Word processors add a bunch of junk code that you don't need. I suggest you buy or use free the CoffeeCup Editor or similar software. Find one that is easy to use and you can use the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) feature if you like. (Okay, I never use that feature myself.) If you are a Wealthy Affiliate University member, they have a site building program too. No markup language is required. Also, Godaddy.com has a free editor you should find easy to use. A simple search will find you many free or reasonably priced editors. Like I say, I am not allowed to give any instruction here. Just go to http://www.html.net and take the lessons. You can learn some hypertext markup language by snooping around on the net. Go to a simple website and then click on "View" on your browser tool bar, then "Source." You will see the code of the site. Look at the "description" and "keywords" in the meta files. Some spiders read these files which are not visible on the site. You should have these files on each web page making sure that the keywords and descriptions reflect exactly what is on the site. That is very important if you don't want a search engine to drop your site into the garbage can. Look at the code versus what you see on the site. Now look at a complex site like Yahoo.com. Wow! Keep things simple-at least to start. Write a sample web page using hypertext markup language. Save it as an .htm file. Now open it with your browser. Could your browser read it? When I'm editing a site I sometimes open a new file and paste in some code. I want to see it perform in a browser. If it looks good, I paste it on the page I am editing. Tables are important to a webmaster. Most editors will build a table for you. If you wanted to add another cell to the table just copy the "tr" block. Your editor will allow you to ad an image. You will want to link some text to a web site or file. Your editor will allow you to do this. Generally you just highlight the text and click on the link button in your editor. It will let you open the destination site on a new page, if that is what you want to do. I suggest you do not use frames. Some older browsers can not read them. Don't disturb the old folks. Next time we will discuss collecting email addresses and using auto responders to service your customers. Keep wheeling--if you can afford the gas. Hey! Is that bike still in the garage? Have you seen the tire pump? Fly Old Glory! |
