Your site is a direct reflection of your style, tastes and preferences. It's also a testament to your creativity and talent. Often, a first time web designer will use shortcuts to get their site up and running. Believe me, there's plenty of "free" material out there and it's tempting to "git 'er done" quickly. Sometimes, that can be a costly mistake.

Run a search for "free content" and you'll find a host of backgrounds, banners, buttons, bells, whistles, free java script, calendars, guest books, form mail, auto responders, chat rooms, and more! You name it, any gadget, widget or goody you can imagine for your site is out there... and usually for FREE! All kinds of jewels just there for the taking! That's great, right?

Not always! Even on the web, free isn't always "free." There's usually a "catch." The catch is most likely free advertising on your site for the original designer. If their site is popular, chances are thousands are using the same elements so you've just lost half your "uniqueness."

Another catch: While there's plenty of "free to use" materials out there, you'll find most of it is for "personal" sites only. In exchange for use, they require you link back to them for credit. If you sell ANYthing on your site, whether products or services, you are considered a professional and/or "for profit" site and are disqualified from said usage.

There are exclusions for "not for profit organizations," (i.e. charities) but they're very limited. If you have a ".org" site, that doesn't make you a not for profit "legally." I recommend good quality, bona-fide legal counsel on this one. To claim a non-profit status, you must be registered with IRS as a non-profit organization. Cheat on this one and all your assets (including losses) can be confiscated by dear ole' Uncle Sam.

The same is true if you use paid affiliate links, you collect referral fees or you get paid for click-thrus from your site. I don't care how you want to wax semantics, they're "profits" and you can't get around it. Many are tempted by saying, "I just want to recoup the cost of my site to keep it up and running." Even so, you are still a "for profit" site, even if you make a loss!

If you want a site that reflects your style and the overall flavor of your content, you will, by necessity, have to learn to design your own elements, or at the very least, how to customize a template. I will address that in another article.

Most hosting companies offer free templates and "site designer" software for their users. For every "template" a host offers free of charge, rest assured it won't be long before "Tom, Rick and Merry, Inc." have exactly the same style as you. To position yourself in the market, you must have something unique and popular enough to warrant a surfer's time and attention. This is where personal style comes in.

I am not dissing the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" philosophy, but, if you plan on making your site unique, only YOU can do it.

Putting in links to other sites for support is a good thing, but putting in a link for say, one person's background, another's buttons, another's banners, another's ad... well it can get downright confusing and (irritating) to your reader. Your readers may be left wondering who the creative genius really was. A good reason to try as much as possible to use original designs is once a visitor leaves your site to see where you got all these goodies, they may never return.

Next, nothing turns a reader off more than landing on an otherwise well planned site overburdened by myriad advertisements and flashing ads every 15 seconds, or too many links back and forth between various sites for content. After all, you want to keep them at your site as long as possible and you want to hold their interest. Popups are usually a no-no (so say the web gurus out there), but they do have a place in certain instances.

One way to avoid losing your visitors is to code each hyperlink on your site to open in a new window and make sure the links are relevant to your content. Most people have popup blockers installed by default and many don't even know how to turn them on and off. I personally find popups offensive, unless used for product descriptions or "more info" but only by request. IF you use pop-ups, use them sparingly and advise your readers up front. Tell them WHY you use popups, where they will see them and for what purpose. Give your reader choices and you'll have a better audience. Otherwise, popups are dead links or can actually divert traffic away from your site. (The same is true for java, an ever increasing, popular form of creating menu links. Some people confuse that with ActiveX content. In either case, give them notice.)

The beauty of opening links in a new window is, once clicked, your reader may go off on a tangent to 100 different sites before they close the window, but once closed, they're still sitting at your site and your window is (hopefully) the last one they see. You should use this method sparingly and only in context to what you are trying to achieve, otherwise, your reader will SKIP you entirely next time they surf!

If you are a novice and want to design a website, avail yourself of all the computer forums available on the web before you begin your design for a site. The help from more experienced users and seasoned designers can be invaluable and will save you time and precious money. Web designers are costly for a reason. It takes a good sense of marketing knowledge, knowledge of your products and services, and finally, a well formed navigational plan before you even begin contemplating your designs.

Avail yourself of free help whenever possible. There's an "expert" forum on all things techno-geek these days. USE them, but don't ABUSE them. In other words, don't mistake a good hearted designer's help as them being willing to walk you each step of the way through your site planning. Chances are, if you find a good forum on Web Design, any question you have has probably already been answered. Read, read, read.

A forum is a perfect place to learn about your audience, to have others with more experience critique and guide you to your final design, and you can learn the answers to the inevitable questions your users will ask. This helps you start building a knowledge base before your first page goes up. If you don't have an answer for a user, do you think they'll come back? The time you take to make yourself familiar with your audience and their needs can either make or break you, your credibility and your site.

And hey, don't get caught up on techno-geek. The best kept secret of advanced users is not that they know it all, it is knowing WHERE to find what they NEED to know. So pass it on, share it, pay it forward. It will be worth it in the long run. Every forum you join is a new audience for your site.

People love to see the fruits of their labors, even forum junkies like me. Developing a good network of experts never hurts.