How do web pages work? How do you create a good web site? There are many things to consider. What kind of information do you want to put on it? Who will use it? How often will it be updated? How do you make a web page? How do you organize all your files for the website? How do you make the page interesting? How does that page then get onto the internet? These are all important questions.

Web pages are simply text-based documents that are like a set of directions for a web browser, such as Netscape, Firefox or Internet Explorer. These files tell the browser what text to display, where to put it and what color to make it. It also can describe where to show pictures or other files in the page. These directions are written in a language called hyper text markup language, or more commonly called HTML. Click here to learn more about using HTML. Already know it all? Take this quiz!

Web sites should contain information that is relevent to someone. Having a webpage listing your favorite video games and the names of all of your stuffed animals may be cute, but not many people will be back to check it out later. You have to offer the user something that is important to them. Typically this will be entertainment or credible(trustworthy) information. How do you determine if something is trustworthy? Well, typically websites with a .edu or .gov on the end should be fairly credible. Large, well known companies or organizations like World Book are probably pretty safe too. A good rule is to always double check your information on a couple credible sites and make sure they all agree.

You should have a plan of how to organize your web site. I recommend that you create a new "www" directory somewhere on your computer or home directory to contain all of your websites. Inside of that folder, create another folder for each site you design. That way you don't mix up all of your files. Check out this information on web hierarchy.

So you may already know how to make a webpage. But to make an interesting website, it must be well organized, easy to navigate, easy to read, have an intuitive, or easy to follow interface and not take too long to download(Also, check out the links below under "Web design Tips"). With all of the free clipart, animated GIFs and music files out there, it's real easy to get carried away. Don't go overboard on these things in your site. A good guideline is to try not to put more than one or two animations on one page and make sure they serve a purpose and don't distract from your message. Sounds in particular can be really annoying if the viewer doesn't want them--So at least offer a choice as to whether to listen to them, or turn them off.

Check out some of the links below under "Resources" for some good places to find content for your pages. NOTE: A lot of this content is pretty much out of date now. Web design layout is better done with the use of cascading style sheets (CSS) rather than tables.