Website Basics Series 

 This series is a set of 3 workshops for beginning website builders or owners who want to create or expand their online web presence.  Whether you have a website currently, or you want to try to build one yourself - this series is for you!  The entire course is set up to guide you through the principles of building your website in an organic search engine friendly way that will get you found by search engines for free and save you money in the future. Whether you are going to build it, or hire someone else to do it, this class will teach you what questions to ask, what information you need to know and how to be a smart website owner. This course does not involve coding or programming. Participants who enroll in this series also receive one hour of consultation with a website professional focusing on your specific website or project needs.

Session 1: Planning Your Website (9/21/10  6-8pm)
Learn what it takes to properly plan a website, what elements and assets you need to have before you build a website, how to choose your domain name, the basics of building a search engine friendly website.  You will also be led through a questionnaire that will help you figure out what you want from a website.

Session 2: Building Your Website (9/28/10  6-8pm)
Learn how to bring your elements together in building a website, what options (template, CMS, hiring a designer, DIY) are available to build a website and the reasons for each, how to select a hosting company based on your personal website needs.  You will also be led through a website building tool available through a hosting company.

Session 3: Marketing and Your Online Web Presence (10/5/10  6-8pm)
Learn what SEO is all about. Learn about social media and how to decide if it is right for you, how to market your website and create an online web presence, the importance of statistics and how to use them, and learn how to maintain your website regularly.

About the instructor: Colleen Rice Nelson
Colleen Rice Nelson is a self employed business woman who runs a multimedia consulting business, The Ultimate Answer (http://www.the-ultimate-answer.com/), helping her clients answer their questions about the world wide web. Working with websites since 1996, Colleen has a passion for inspiring clients to get creative and think out of the box with their website marketing, while maintaining a practical and functional approach to their site design. You can have great looking website, but if you don't promote it, and no one can find you - what's the point? Creating a website that is search engine friendly is the backbone of a great website, not an afterthought.