Web development encompasses many stages i.e. Planning, Analysis, Web design, Implementation, Promotion and Innovation. Each of these stages requires use of different sets of tools and professionals with varied skill sets.

Planning and Analysis don't require as many software tools as the experience of the web master or project director. They need working knowledge with all aspects of server and database. Familiarity with Operating Systems and the Internet server applications are required. Experience with IP networks, programming languages and database development are also essential. The two most common Operating Systems used are Windows NT/2000 and Unix, although many also use Linux. Most commonly used Internet programming languages include PERL, CGI, ActiveX, ASP, and Java among others.

In the next stage of Web designing, tools such as HTML Meta tags, JavaScript, CGI, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia DreamWeaver and Adobe Photoshop are used. Web templates, graphic designs, photographs, texts, clippings, audio and video are also included, as per the requirements. Flash helps in animation that gives an identity to a website. Visual Basic is the most common language for scripting and SQL with other database engines are used for database management on the website. To create Search Engine Optimized content, tools such as Overture are used. Once the most popularly searched words in your industry are identified and short-listed, the content creators write content using these search words. This ensures that your website lists high in the search engines and directories.

In the Implementation stage, the website is implemented and tested on various browsers. Any functional errors, if found, are corrected. The Promotion and Innovation stages, help in marketing a website. Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Promotion, Loyalty Programs, Email Campaigns and Online Games are some tools used for website promotion. Tools such as site statistics software and reporting from site searches let you know what exactly your visitors are looking for. The content and marketing strategies are then adjusted accordingly. A website also needs to be maintained and continuously evaluated and updated with respect to content, presentation, layout and technical aspects.

Use of good web development tools ensures that your pages have good content, Meta tags, a high link popularity score, appropriate keywords and visual appeal. Although web development tools are essential, it also takes a seasoned team of programmers, graphic designers, content creators, consultants and marketing staff to work in tandem to create a technically sound, visually appealing and highly functional website. A well-planned site, apart from being high in functionality, is also easy to re-design or alter, at a later stage.

Functions are used to perform a well defined task that is normally repeated at various places within a web site, web application, or other software application. The function sometimes needs certain information before performing its task, and sometimes returns a value to the calling page or program.

An example of how to use a simple function in PHP:

 function showMessage() {
echo "{$_SESSION["message"]}"; }

The above example shows a very simple function that displays the contents of a session variable called 'message'. The idea being that while a user is using a web site, etc, various messages are generated and stored in the 'message' session variable. Whenever the showMessage function is called, the contents of the session variable are displayed. So, for example, when the user logs on, you could display a message saying that they have done so. Likewise, when they log off, a different message could be displayed.

Calling a function

To call the showMessage function, you would just need to include the line:

showMessage()

in the web page (wrapped in php tags to distinguish it from normall HTML).

Passing values to a function

Often, a function requires one or more input values in order to perform its task. For example, take the following example that takes two numbers as input, and adds them together. The result is then returned to the calling web page or program.

function addNumbers($number1,$number2) {
$answer = $number1 + $number2;
return $answer; }

In the calling program we would have something similar to the following:

$number1 = "5";
$number2 = "6";
$sumOfNumbers = addNumbers($number1,$number2);
echo "$sumOfNumbers";

Obviously, in a real program you would not have the numbers hardcoded like this, but they would be obtained from user input or by some other means. Notice also that although the name of the returned variable is $answer, the calling program makes no reference to that. We could, if we wanted to, change the calling program to:

$answer = addNumbers($number1,$number2);
echo "$answer";

which might make things slightly easier to understand.

Before you build any website it is important to sit back and think about exactly what you want to achieve. This will help you to stay focused on your objective.

Now I am going to presume that you want your site to make you some money. Wile it is nice to make money if this is your only objective you may face many challenges ahead. The reason is because you may find the level of motivation may dwindle if you do not start making money quickly.

What I want to emphasize is simplicity. Keep it simple. Do not over complicate the process. To create and effective website you need to understand why people use the internet.

Our main goal when we go online is to get information for one reason or another. This may be for research or entertainment purposes. However the premise remains the same. One way or another your site will need to provide content relevant to the individuals search. This content can be provided by audio, video or written means. The fact is that it has to be relevant in order to be effective.

We all know how we feel when we find what we are looking for. This builds credibility and as a result the recommendations you make will be followed which means you will make money.

The bottom line is that we all want results and desire to achieve a certain outcome. You need to know what your visitor's wants and needs are then address it and provide solutions. Communicate with your visitors in a way that makes sense to them and provide logical steps that they can follow.

As for the technical aspects of building a site the good news is that there are many website building software tools out there that can help with this even if you have no technical knowledge. So don't sweat the small stuff.