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Web Site Fundamentals
Table of contents
Design and Development
Objectives and Strategies
The function of a web site should influence the structure and design of
the site. The three most common reasons to own a web site are:
- On-line Business:
- You want to sell products or services on the
web. These need to be presented so that they
attract customers and lead to sales. There
are several levels of on-line business, from
a simple "web presence" (advertising
on-line, but sales requiring e-mail or phone
contact) to full-blown E-commerce (products
are ordered, paid for and sometimes delivered
on-line).
- Information or Reference Site:
- Web sites may be used to provide resource information such as research
or reference material. There are many web sites that have no product
or service to sell, but instead answer questions such as “how to”,
“where to find”, “what is” or “the history of”.
- Personal Web Sites
-
You may want a site for personal reasons. An upcoming wedding or family reunion make a web site ideal to keep family members updated. Sometimes, a web site is used to present personal information that may be referenced by invited friends.
Layout and Style
Design work for a web site can be extensive, and for that reason it
is separated from the resulting web site. Each original design is created
with the customer's specifications and business needs in mind. We will
follow any color or design theme required. We will provide up to a maximum
of 5 draft designs for review. Suggestions may be made and modifications
can be requested for the design draft. Once a design has been chosen
and modified, it will then be finalized with a maximum of three minor
revisions. Our normal design fee of $300.00, is paid at the time of
design approval.
We also offer economy packages that include the price of design within
the total price for the site.
The anatomy of a web site is composed of three elements:
Structure
- Home Page
- This is generally the first page that is viewed. It should be visually attractive and draw visitors deeper into the web site. All main pages should be linked through this page, allowing visitors easy access to areas of interest.
- Main Site Pages
- Each of these pages are a main topic of the web site, and are linked to the home page. The information on these pages will link to other main topic pages, or to sub pages that add further information and support to the main topic.
- Sub Pages
- These pages usually contain more detailed information than the
main site pages.
Content
- Considerations
- Is there enough basic information to produce a web site?
A web site can be created with basic information to begin with.
The site can start out as a single page with no more than a company
logo and contact information. Any additional content can be added
when it becomes available.
- Web Site Administrator
-
- Who will gather and organize the information, images, logos,
photos and text for your site?
- Who will write or gather the text or copy for your site?
- Who will be responsible for fact-checking and proofreading
your text or copy?
- Who will authorize changes to your web site?
- Who will authorize a domain name for your site?
- Who will pay the domain name registration fee?
- Who will authorize the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and
site hosting fees?
- Who will pay the bills?
- Who will keep track of the ISP information (i.e. host, user
name, password, e-mail, etc.)?
The administrator should know your business and understand the
goals of your web site. He should be well organized and have the
ability to gather information from all parts of your company.
He needs to have access to the Internet and E-mail, and should
have a basic knowledge of how the Internet works.
- Gathering Content
- Start with the information and materials that you already use
in your business: catalogs; brochures; handbooks; advertising;
awards and recognition; product logos, labels, packaging; location
map; historical data. (These materials will have to be carefully
scanned and digitally enhanced for best results.)
If you plan to take pictures, avoid candid shots. Notify people
in advance so that they may look their best. Digital images produce
the best results, but be sure to use the proper resolution and
file format (we can help). Product photos can be difficult
and may require a photographer with product marketing experience.
- Organizing Information
- Most of the time, content will sort itself out into obvious
categories. These categories represent the main pages of your
web site. These category names for each page then become navigation
links that will guide visitors through your site to your products
and information.
Most people will not read a lot of text on a computer screen.
The text needs to be well written, but as simple and concise as
possible. A good way to compose your site is by answering these
six questions:
- WHO
- Who are you? Your company, services, organization, etc.
How long have you been in business? Company historical information?
Who are your personnel or staff? Individual or group information?
Who is your audience? Who will be using your site?
- WHAT
- What message do you want to convey?
What do you want to gain?
What are your products or services? Do you have detailed descriptions
of each?
Will you have products for sale on your site? How many?
Do you want to include prices, item numbers, size, etc.?
- WHERE
- Your location or where can you be reached?
Where can viewers purchase your products, services etc.?
Do you sell through distributors? Want to list them?
Where can more information be found?
Do you want to provide links to sites pertinent to your type
of service or topics of similar interest?
- WHEN
- Do you have special events or sales? Monthly or occasionally?
- WHY
- Why should viewers continue to visit your site, buy from
you, use your services or trust the information you provide?
Why are your products, services or information superior in
quality?
- HOW
- How will viewers use the information you provide?
Purchase product from you?
Use your services?
Want viewer feedback?
Style
- Considerations
- Although there is no right or wrong, your choice of design, colors,
atmosphere, fonts and images for your site, will all influence how
viewers perceive your message.
- Layout and Design
- There are no set rules in web page layout design. In most instances
the page layout will include a header at the top of the page that
will be displayed on all the pages of the site. The header helps
maintain a consistent web site style. The header can be eliminated
or combined with the navigation bar for more flexibility.
The navigation bar is the control center of your web site. It is
made up of links to all of the main pages on your site. It smoothes
the process of travelling around your site and guides your viewers
to your featured content -- very important if viewers are to find
the products or information they are seeking. All the main pages
of your site should be highlighted on the navigation bar. The navigation
bar should be consistent throughout so links to the rest of your
site will be found in the same place on every page.
Navigation links can be plain text or web buttons. Buttons can be
any shape, size or color, and can contain graphics, clip art, or
images. The button can change appearance when the cursor moves over
it or you click on it. You can also create image slices, where areas
of your page display different images when the cursor rolls over
a button.
- Color
- Color is one of the most important aspects of web style. Does your company have
an existing color scheme? Will there be a dominant color? Will colors be warm or cool,
harmonious or complimentary? Do you like dark colors on light backgrounds, or light
colors on dark backgrounds?
(More Information)
- Atmosphere
- A well constructed web site will give the viewer both the confidence
in and a good feeling about your message. A poorly constructed web
site may actually drive your viewer away before they even see your
message. Just as the words "professional", "educational",
"informative" and "technical" give you a very
different feeling from the words "easy", "fun",
"zany" and "flashy", the look of your web site
can produce different feelings. It is important that the look of
your site is tuned to match the message that you are presenting.
- Fonts
- The fonts used in your web site are another important part of
the style. When it comes to the text in web pages there is no absolute
control. The web page designer chooses the fonts and the variations
in type size and any bold, italic or underline style settings. The
viewer's browser uses a matching font in the local computer to display
the text in the browser window. Because of slight variation in fonts,
browsers and browser settings, web pages may not appear the same
on every computer.
The fonts you choose for your headings should not compete with your logo, graphics or images, but should accent the style or mood of your site. Too many fonts will clutter up your site and dissipate the viewer's attention. A well defined style should focus the viewers attention on your product or message. Try to stick to one body or text font and one headline font that compliment each other and don't compete for attention. Some fonts that are not available on every system may need to be placed as graphical elements to assure proper display.
- Images
-
Do you have an existing logo?
Would you like to include stock photography in your site?
Custom designed graphics are an effective way to integrate your
companies identity into your site beyond just adding a logo. Each
Web site sends a unique message. Your individual needs will dictate
whether you want photos, drawn images or a combination of graphical
elements on your site.
Implementation
Development
After the site design and content have been defined, it's time to build all the graphical elements for the pages - photos, images, figures and text. Photos may have to be adjusted for better contrast or color. Often, multiple images will be combined into a single collage to heighten visual impact. Extraneous elements may need to be removed.
When all of these elements are merged into the design layout, the site will be finished. It will consist of a collection of digital files, at least one binary file per image, and one text file for each of the web pages.
Now we have a functional web site that is ready for testing before
presenting it to the client or publishing it onto a web hosting server.
Testing
Testing a web site must at least include the following:
- Check spelling and grammar (Forgotten too often!)
- Checking each link for function and accuracy
- Review all graphics, colors & fonts
- Verify display quality across common browsers
- Validate the HTML (page code)
- Debug all scripts and programs
This completes the design and development phases of web site
creation. The resulting collection of files that make up the
site can be delivered to the client or published to a hosting server.
At this point your web site will not be available on the Internet
until a domain name has been registered, a contract obtained with a
hosting provider, and the site files have been transferred. Your site
may also required promotion to be found easily by search engines.
The associated costs for these services are not included in the
initial fee for design and development!
Publishing and Maintenance
Domain Name Registration
In order to drive a car, it must be registered. Among other things,
auto registration guarantees that each vehicle has a unique license
number for identification. To have a site on the World Wide Web, it
too, must have a unique name. This is called the "domain name" and,
like your car, it must be registered with an authorized agency to make
sure that your name does not duplicate a name already in use and cannot
be used by anyone else. The domain name can be almost anything: a company
name, product name, name of a person (although it cannot contain spaces
or certain special characters). To be truthful, you may need to think
of several alternatives. There are a lot of businesses on the web and
many obvious domain names have already been registered and are no longer
available.
There are some special cases, such as a personal or private group site,
that may not need a domain name. If the site is only to be used by people
that are invited, the address can be a subordinate directory of an already
existing named site. (Example: The web site might be called “My Web
Site” and an agreement might be made with “WebsBuilder.biz” to make
the web site available. The files for “My Web Site” will be stored on
the Host Provider with the files for “WebsBuilder.biz”. The address
“WebsBuilder.biz” will display the “WebsBuilder.biz” web site, but the
address “WebsBuilder.biz/My Web Site” will display the “My Web Site”.)
This can make a site available without a Domain Name and you may not
need a contract with a Host Provider. This may save a little money,
but your web site will not be found without going through the address
of the original site. This is not really an option for a professional
or commercial web site.
Domain Names may be registered only by authorized organizations. There
are many companies offering registration services, and they each have
their own price and service packages. Prices average between $10 and $50,
and expire after the contracted period of time. WebsBuilder.biz
will be glad to assist with the selection of a registrar and the registration
process.
Hosting Provider
The collection of files that make up a web site must be associated
with a domain name and then placed on a server (dedicated computer)
that is a gateway to the Internet. When a viewer is looking at a web
site, the files that make the web site are stored on the server and
not on the web site’s local computer.
There is a wide variety of web hosting service packages from which to choose, and an equally wide range of prices. Small to medium sized businesses can usually run on a very reasonably priced host. Certain aspects of your web site will determine the hosting features you will need. How much disk space on the server you will need is determined by the number of files and images you will need to store.
Other variables include Traffic and Bandwidth. Basically, this will
be dependent on the amount of visitors during a month and the amount
of time that they are visiting the web site. If the amount of provided
bandwidth is exceeded before the end of the month, the web site will
be closed down and unavailable for the remainder of the month. This
is not good if you are trying to increase business and your web site
is not reliable.
There are many companies that provide web hosting. Prices vary between
free and $2,000 per month. Free hosting services cover their expenses
by selling advertising that will be displayed on your site. You may
not mind for a personal site, but on a professional or commercial site
you will want to decide what ads will appear. You would not want
your site to display advertisements from your competitors.
For our clients WebsBuilder.biz
will provide basic web hosting service for the price of $30 per month.
This service will include up to two hours of monitoring, adjusting,
correcting or changing each month.
If you prefer, we will act as your agent in all phazes of evaluating
and obtaining a hosting contract for your site. We can also design and
build a site on your in-house web server or on your existing hosting
service.
ADDED BONUS:
Any web site developed by WebsBuilder.biz
is eligible for a free site-link from WebsBuilder.biz
for the first 12 months. This means that WebsBuilder.biz
will advertise your site and provide visitors a second portal to your
site free for one year.
Publishing and Maintaining the Site
Publishing
The "collection of files" that are your web site are ready to be "published"
to the web. This will make your site visible to any web browser who
types your domain name into their browser.
Publishing a web site has several steps. Moving files across the Internet
onto the hosting server generally uses file transfer protocol (FTP). If
you are not familiar with command lines or FTP scripting, you will need
a special program to facilitate file transfer. It's also important to
have a good understanding of the structure and hierarchy of the hosting
server and where files are stored in the various directories for your
site.
Maintenance
Every site needs maintenance from time-to-time. An active eCommerce site will need constant attention as products are added and special offers and incentives for marketing are introduced. All changes to a web site require the same steps as publishing the site above.
Registrations
Your domain name was registered for a set period, usually between one and three years, and will need to be renewed when the registration comes due again. If you do not renew your domain name, you can lose it. your domain name registrar will contact you with email to the address you specified when you registered. Make sure it's an email address you'll still be checking three years down the line. Your hosting service will need to be paid as well, but it's harder to lose track of a monthly bill than one due every three years. You will also want to stay aware of when your hosting company schedules upgrades or down times.
Email
Most hosting services offer several email addresses for use with your
site. this allows you to do business by email using an email address that
includes your domain name. (If your domain name is "MySite.com"
you can have email addresses like "Me@MySite.com",
"Info@MySite.com" or "Sales@MySite.com".
WebsBuilder.biz
can help you setup your email and create email forms on your web site
for sales and information.
Web Site Statistics
When someone visits your site several pieces of information are stored
in "log" files on the host server. These logs can be used to collect
statistics from your web site that can tell you a lot about the performance
of your site. Among other things, these statistics can track: how many
people visit your site each day, when they visit, how long they spend
on each page, and how they got to your site (what site they were at
just before switching to yours). This last option can tell you what
search engines to focus on and which web sites your banner was seen
on. Web logs contain a lot of information and they are difficult to
understand in their "raw" form.
A number of companies sell programs that will analyze and chart meaningful
information from your web site's logs. Many hosting services include
a basic log analysis application. Both take some experience to understand,
but if you are concerned with web positioning (discussed below)
these can be indispensable for determining the success of your positioning
efforts and advertising campaign. WebBuilder.biz can help you as you
learn to interpret and use these features.
Advertising and Promotion
You may have the best looking web site on the Internet, but if you want people to see it they have to be able to find it. So, like any business, you need to advertise. How you advertise depends on the type and purpose of your site and, of course, how much you are willing to spend.
If your company is associated with or subsidiary to a larger company, your advertising may be covered by the corporate budget. If your site is personal, private or restricted to invited users, you may not need to advertise.
If you're in business to sell products or services you need to attract customers to your site. There are various ways to advertise a web site and attract customers.
Search Engines
When viewers type in a few words and do a “search”, they usually think
that the returned list will include every web site that may pertain
to those words. This is not true! A web site does not automatically
appear in any search engine listing. It must be added to each search
engine through a process determined by the company. There are thousands
of search engines world-wide, but there are less than a dozen that are
popular in the United States.
Knowing which search engines on which to place your site is very important. Some search engines are very general, while others have a very narrow field of interest. A web site that presents technical scientific information may best be serviced if it is placed on a search engine that has focus in that area. A web site that sells hand-craft products would probably gain no customers from that engine.
Just as important as search engine selection, is the placement (positioning) on a search engine listing. A position on the first page of search results will be seen by every viewer. A position on page 24 will usually never be seen.
As search engines gain popularity, they charge more for their listing
services. Prices can be as high as several hundred dollars per month.
There are companies that specialize in helping with placement on search
engines. Even though this service can be expensive, it is sometimes
worthwhile. There are many factors involved in search engine placement
and the search engines themselves are constantly adding and changing
requirements. It can become a full time job tuning a site for optimum
placement.
WebsBuilder.biz
does not provide search engine placement service. However, we will be
glad to assist in the selection of a reasonable web positioning service
or contract one for you.
Banner Exchanges
Banners can be compared to a signboard on the highway, or an advertisement in a magazine. A banner is an image that is placed on another web site and “advertises“ it’s own web site. Banners include a “link” to your site. When viewers “click” on the banner, their Internet connection is automatically redirected to your site.
Just like purchasing advertising space in a newspaper, some web sites and Internet providers sell advertising space. For some web businesses it will make sense to purchase ad space. Another option, though, is to trade banners with another web site that offers an associated product or service. When a shopper is visiting a site with whom you have exchanged banners, they can see your add for a related service and can browse directly to your site for your product.
If the web site is hosted by WebsBuilder.biz,
we will assist the site owner to arrange banner exchanges and will write
the required coding at no additional charge.
Site Link Exchanges
A more personal approach may be a “link page” on a web site. This is
when a web site encourages viewers to visit the sites of associates
or friends. When the related link is selected by the viewer, their session
is automatically redirected to the new web site. If your site is hosted
by WebsBuilder.biz,
we will write the required coding at no additional charge.
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