This page is about the
management of web sites. Design is about
beginning a new web site. But there is no
such thing as a "finished web site". As soon
as a new web site has been published, work
begins on maintaining it.
Web sites whose pages change
on a regular basis are more often re-visited
by viewers - they also do better in search
engines.
There is no point in putting
a lot of time and effort into making a web
site if no one looks at it. Getting people
to see it is part of the task that web publishers
have in maintaining and developing their
sites.
There are many ways in
which you can drive visitors to your web
site. Arranging links from other relevant
web sites is one of them. Making sure the
site is found in search engines is another.
Web site marketing
Using existing paper-based
marketing is also key to getting those visitor
stats to go up. Where a business has a marketing
strategy, the role of the web site must be
thought through and how it relates to more
conventional marketing tactics.
Web sites are capable of
doing a lot more than just providing information.
yes they do that, must business web sites
also have to play a role in finding new customers.
The content of web sites
From my point of view,
content is the most important thing about
web sites. I have had long and often heated
debates with young web designers who want
me to see "design" as being the most important
aspect of web pages.
By "design" they usually
mean the artistic or creative elements. Well,
sometimes that is the case - it depends on
the type of web site in question. Me, I am
a commercial web designer - a lot of what
I do is about making sites that are effective
for business purposes.
Plus the fact, I am a writer
rather than a graphics artist. This web site,
for example, is a prime example of words
over imagery.
I could have spent a lot
of time making and editing pictures for this
web site. I found it much quicker to sit
here a write what I want to put out rather
than fiddling with images about it.
I bear in mind as well
that most sessions of web browsing are carried
out by people who want to find something
out. That is certainly true for business.
Many business people struggle with writing.
They can find it hard to pen enough words
to describe their business, what it does,
how it operates, what products they have
to sell and why people should choose them
rather than their competitors.
Some business people hire
copywriters to generate their content for
them. A good solution if you can afford it.
When you are writing for
the web remember two things: people want
information and they want it quick. The web
browsing public have a short attention span.
If you have important messages for your visitors
- put them at the top of page so they do
not have to scroll down to them. Make them
stand out. Use your key words.
First things first
Before you can publish
a web site you will need two things:
Domain name
Some web space (hosting)
Choosing the right domain
name is very important, especially if you
want your website to succeed in search engines.
If you business is called
"Acme Sparkplugs" you could register "acme.co.uk"
or "aceme.com" (well assuming that these
domain names are not already registered of
course.)
But if you choose to include
the word "sparkplugs" in the domain name
then you are going to get an extra point
in search engine rankings.
Having keywords in domain
names is not necessary but it helps. Search
engines can detect keywords in domain names.
So if your are a firm of
lawyers, you could register SmithandBrown.co.uk
But if you registered "propertylawyers.co.uk"
that might earn you a few additional points
in the search engines.
These are not the best
examples but they do suggest an approach
to choosing a domain name which a lot of
people fail to recognise.
One more thing. There is
evidence that some search engines like domain
names to be associated with a particular
country.
Well, .co.uk domain names
are associated with the UK. Although the
.com is regarded as being an International
Top Level Domain Name, technically it is
not a world domain but that of a commercial
company in the USA.
There is some evidence
that if you are making a web site about a
UK business, you should register a .co.uk
domain name (and NOT a .com) and host the
site on a UK web server.
I would not host a web
site with a .co.uk on a web server in the
USA and I would not avoid registering a .com
for a web site hosted in the UK.
If you dig very deeply
into the backend pages of Google, there is
evidence to substantiate this.
Planning is so important
When you are making a new
web site, there are some key stages that
should be carefully planned.
Stages
Planning and styling – working on paper
Creating a master file
Copying the master file
Putting in the content
Testing
Planning and styling
Work on paper to plan your
site – use story boards– do
a rough page layout
Creating a master file
Create a master file
from which all other pages in the web site
will be copied. Use file save as to create
each page. Make sure you file the file
names right – as per your
navigation bar. DO NOT put space into file
names and use only lower case letters.
Copying the master file
As mentioned above, use FILE SAVEAS to make
each new page. Check this in the browser
to ensure that all the images work.
Check list
External style sheet created
All styles are correct
Styles are applied to all elements
Links in menu bars are checked and correct
Alt statements set into common graphics
Title tag set to generic statement
Codes has been checked for errors
Putting in the content
Either write the content directly into each
web page or better still, write it in a word
processing document and then copy and past
it into the web page.
Testing
Upload your web page to
the server and test it in a variety of web
browsers. Check that all the links work.
