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OK so we want to build our new site! Where to start? We need to plan our site up front. Remember GDI gives you six full pages with their site builder option. They also give you two plugins - a feedback form and a guestbook - so thats eight pages in all. So now we need to plan our new site. This is one way to go:-
One of the easiest ways is to draw a 2" (5cm) circle smack in the center of a piece of paper. In the center of the circle write the title of your site. This represents your home or index page and is the first page anyone will see when they type in your new .ws domain name.
Radiating out from the circle draw 7 spokes. At the end of each spoke draw another 2" (5cm) circle. So each new circle represents one of our remaining 7 pages. In each of these circles write the title of a topic for your site such as "contact" or "promote the gdi dream" or "sell a mineral supplement" or "weave an underwater basket". One of the seven circles will be a guestbook and one will be a feedback form. This will give you a core layout.
If you are using the GDI hosting option not the site builder, you can add as many spokes as you like and you can connect the sub circles with spokes to show relationships. You can also add spokes to the sub circles and add a second layer of circles.
Play with the circles till you find a good combination.
Now get a pad and using one page/circle write anything down about the topic. Just write anything that comes to mind. Now turn the thoughts into paragraphs. You will be surprised how quickly content builds. Concentrate on text to begin with. Just put words on the pages. Text is important because this is what the big search engines like Google and Yahoo will assess you on. (They have no interest in graphics or banners.) When you have finished with the words make a list of any pictures, graphics, banners or sounds you want on each page.
On your computer make a new directory and call it whatever your new site's name is. Inside this directory make a new directory called "images" and collect and store all the images, banners, graphics, sounds etc. you think you will need in the new "images" directory. You will need these later to upload them to your gallery in the site builder.
Ok now we are ready to start building. Don't worry if the exercise we have done so far is not 100% perfect. A website is a flexible thing that you can change with ease. At least we have a basic idea of what our new site will look like.
So lets move on to lesson 2 - The Site Builder
Site Builder Lesson 1 - the basic controls
Site Builder Lesson 2 - Planning your site in advance
Site Builder Lesson 3 - GDI Site Builder Getting Started
Site Builder Lesson 4 - GDI Site Builder Editor Modes
Setup Your Email
Promote Your Site
Internet Marketing
The Very Best Leads
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