Be Unique

Your webpage design should be as individual as you are.

Think about the things that you enjoy; hobbies, work, ... do some brainstorming.
Write down a list of ideas; anything that comes to mind.

Then choose the one(s) that you feel would be the most interesting.

Picture your page. Actually draw it on paper first. Arrange the basic information. Then re-arrange things and play with it.

Now that you have a basic idea for a page...

Look Before You Leap

A good plan of attack is:

1. Browse the web for sites you like.
2. When you find one, use your browsers ability to 'view the source' (it's under View or Options)
3. If the information is not copyrighted, open a new notepad document, then cut & paste the code.
4. Save it as a text file.
5. Now you can examine the code to see how the page was created, and see if you can incorporate the feel into your page.

Putting It All Together

Because I'm cheap, and I like to have control of my coding, I design most of my pages with notepad.

But you don't have to learn HTML to create your own page. Many of the larger IPS (Internet Service Providers; such as AOL, Prodigy, etc.) offer programs that allow you to create pages with no experience.

There are also quite a few commercial software titles you can purchase.

But being so cheap, I recommend going to one of the shareware sites (ZDNET, SHAREWARE, FILE MINE, etc.) and searching for HTML editors. There are a number of excellent programs for you can try before you buy.

One that I have tried, is Lightning HTML Editor. It is a very well designed and easy to use program.

Some Design Thoughts

Not all browser are created equal, and not all visitors have the latest version.
With that in mind, be aware that some of the newest webpage capabilities (java applet, shockwave, etc.) may not be accessible, and may slow down or lock up visitors' systems.
So consider you visitors before incorporating some of the latest devices, or at least warn them in the link to the page.

You don't want to alienate people visiting your site.
Visitors are only one of your concerns, but they should be your main one. If you alienate 1 visitor, you'll lose 10 of their friends too!

Avoid subjects that are not related to your main theme.

Don't go graphic crazy, use them sparingly. Most good designers set a maximum of 4 graphics per page.

Only use animated graphics to attract attention to an item.

Keep you backgrounds simple and make sure the text is easy to read on them.

Make ANY sound optional. Nothing is more annoying then getting blasted with sound when linking to a page! Besides, it really slows down page loading...most visitors won't wait. Bye, there go another 10 visitors!

In general, keep your site simple and entertaining to start. You can enhance and improve it later.

So what are you waiting for? . . . DO IT!