Starting a Site

Planning on starting your own site? It can be a little difficult getting things rolling, so here are some tips to make things a lot easier for you. :)

1. Before you start a site of any kind, know how to make what you're planning on distributing.
If you don't know how to make layouts, don't start a layout site. It seems like common sense, but you wouldn't believe how many new "layout sites" have asked me how to make layouts. For those of you who are impatient and don't want to wait until you can learn, start with something you do know. Contests have become pretty popular, and blogging is fun. You could also create a directory of other sites. That way you'll be able to provide people with helpful links and possibly make some "connections" along the way.

2. Pick a good name.
You better pick a good name, because that's what people are going to know you as for the rest of your site's life. You'll want to keep it short, unique, and easy to spell. Yes, the word "kaleidoscope" does sound pretty cool, but a lot of people would be unable to spell it, and someone probably has it anyway. If you have a myspace site, spelling won't be as big of a deal. It's the people with domains that should take it into consideration. People will never get to your site if they can't type it out correctly in the address bar. You'll also want to make sure that no one else has the name you pick. Let's face it - people are ridiculous. If you choose an extremely unoriginal name such as "Citrus Kisses" or "Pink Glamour," you better bet that one of the five thousand other people who has that name is going to claim you stole it from them. You probably never saw their site in your life, but they'll still force people to block you, send you hate mail, and all that other unnecessary business. It's best to avoid any confrontation. One last thing - don't put any inappropriate words in your name. Visitors may be offended by it.

3. Get connected with other site owners.
Okay, some people call this "making friends," but I prefer "making connections." It makes it sound more realistic (and a bit fancier, too ;P). There will be plenty of sites like yours in the same situation. Find ones that will help promote you through affiliation or recommendation, and do the same for them. You'll also have people that you can go to for help if you're having an issue. I wouldn't recommend trusting these acquaintances with too much, however. It's easy to lie over the internet, so just because someone seems all nice and trustworthy, it doesn't mean they are. Starting a site with a stranger for a partner is probably not a good idea. They can decide to take your password or erase your site whenever they want to. It's best to handle major site matters on your own.

4. Be professional.
Typing correctly is a big part of this. I fully understand that not everyone is a grammar and spelling expert, but at least attempt to make things look and sound right. Use complete sentences with punctuation and capitalization. If you don't know how to spell a word, there are plenty of online dictionaries that you can easily check. Try to type out actual words, also. Avoid "u," "dat," or anything else similar to those. It's not that difficult to type out two more letters than what you typically would. I, personally, never use any inappropriate words on my site. Ever. It's very unprofessional to throw the F-word into everything you write, and a lot of people are offended by it. There's no need to threaten people who take your credit off at the top of every page or do anything else of the sort. It's not any more effective than a simple "Do no take my credit off." If someone believes that you'll actually hunt them down, they need help.

5. Be nice and help other people.
There is absolutely no reason for you to ignore any emails, messages, or comments you receive (unless it's spam). If you don't have time, you shouldn't have a site. Very rarely do I not respond to something, and my site is obviously much bigger than yours will be when you first start off. Some questions can be really irritating, but it's part of your duty as a site owner to answer them. Try your best not to be rude, either. Making a visitor feel stupid isn't a fantastic idea. There are even polite responses to hatemail. Just say something along the links of "That's your opinion, and I respect it. Please try to keep rude comments to yourself, though." Just block them if they get out of hand. Cussing someone out gets you nowhere.

6. Update whenever possible.
People like updates. You don't have to make them every day, but putting something up at least once a week or so is a good idea. If you're too lazy or don't have time, (once again) you probably shouldn't have a site. Even if you don't add any content, let people know you're alive and how things are going.

7. Don't steal anything from anyone.
Don't take anything from anybody's site that isn't meant to be redistributed. Layouts, stylesheets, graphics, etc. - Stay away! It's just really rude (and possibly illegal). Gaining from someone else's efforts is unfair. Things that are meant to be used are a different story. That brings me to my next tip.

8. Credit, Credit, Credit!
Anything you use that was not made by you MUST be credited somewhere. This includes brushes, textures, images, and other things. If you've had a brush for awhile and don't remember where you downloaded it, just try not to use it. DO NOT take images from Photobucket. They're not yours, and getting the original maker to credit is almost impossible. Either learn how to make your own, or find a site that does let you use them. Stock.xchang is a great place for photos, and the photographers don't typically require you to ask permission. Deviantart is a different story. Ask before you use any photos from there. If someone doesn't respond to you, don't assume it's okay. Don't use the image at all.