One of the toughest questions in SBI is simply, "Is this truly a build it
yourself website? And, if so, how do I build it?
That's a very legitimate
concern. And, to top it off, you can't really build much at all until
you know how to answer this question. So let's take a look at the
options.
SBI BLOCKBUILDER
This is the core of SBI page building. It is just super easy to use.
With a half hour lesson in html, you can even add bolds and
colors to your page. This really is the
"build it yourself web site".
And it really makes a nice looking website. Here are some beautiful SBI templates:
If there is an SBI template that fits your theme, that is the easiest (and
cheapest) way to go. You can customize a lot. You can change the
color of the buttons, the color of the logo font, the style of fonts in the
logo and nav bar. In short, you can make it Yours. Also see
Images
and Headers for more ideas.
There are also a number of sites that use the SBI Blockbuilder system, but
that have custom work done for the header and navigation panels. That
can indeed give a very unique look to your site, such as with these:
A custom template like the ones you see above usually cost about US$200.
If you would like a referral to a good designer,
jot me a note and I'll be
glad to refer you.
UPLOAD YOUR OWN HTML
For those comfortable using html, then you can indeed use DREAMWEAVER or
FRONTPAGE or any other html editor and upload those pages to SBI. In
terms of design, the sky is the limit.
THE HYBRID APPROACH
If you have an html editor that you like to use, but you want to use an SBI
template, that's fine. Go ahead and create all of your text, image
links, etc., in the html editor. Be sure you have deleted everything
above <body> and everything below </body> in the code -- SBI includes that
automatically.
In the SBI Blockbuilder, enter the keywords, the description, the page
title and even the header. Copy your page from your html editor and
paste it all into one text block. Run "Preview" and "Analyzer", just as
you would otherwise. And "Build".
THE THREE COLUMN ISSUE
There are those who feel that a three column format is the only
"professional" design. I'm here to say that just ain't so.
I upload my own html. This site is a three column site. Compare
this to one of my top pages in
Business Plan Master, a good income making site.
In the Business Plan site I can guide your eyes from the time you first
open the page, all the way down the text of the page, and finally to my sales
blob on the bottom of the page.
I can't do that in this site. When your eyes land on this page, it is
very hard to bring your focus to where I want it to be.
Our eyes just can't absorb three columns at once. Some three column
sites look pretty at first glance, but for money making focus, I honestly
think the two column format works better, especially for those without years
of design experience.
THE CSS ISSUE
I don't use CSS. I tried it, but in truth I found it a lot easier to
use table formatting. This site probably looks a lot like CSS, but it is
a table format, using Includes files.
For those who would like CSS, please see the note above about the three
column format. And give yourself plenty of time if you are converting
your old site. It takes about an hour a page to convert to CSS.
YOUR $0.02
What's your top tip for building SBI websites? As far as build it
yourself websites go, it is hard to beat SBI, and there are lots of choices.
So do chime in.
What's Your $0.02 ?
There's lots of room for more opinions, so do please chime in!
