Web Design 101 - The Basics
The following is intended to be a basic overview of the things you will need to consider when you start the process. A good web design firm will be able to address all of these issues, and should be able to make the right decisions for you based on your business size and model, your budget, and types of things you are looking to accomplish with a web site.
Why do I need a web site?
This is the first thing you need to ask yourself. Knowing the answer, even if it the first one listed here, will help you and your designer decide on a course of action.
- Everyone is doing it?
- We want potential customers to learn about our company, gain a favorable impression of us, and have access to more information than we could have given them before.
- We want to develop a qualified list of prospects for our goods and services.
- We want to sell products directly from our Web pages.
- We want to Save on mailing and marketing costs
Remember: - Be able to state your purpose for developing your web site in one simple sentence.
- If you can imagine it, it can probably be done. But can you afford it?
Preparing to build a web site
The more work you do to prepare, the less problems you will have down the line. It may also save time and money by eliminating some work that the web designer may have had to do, and it will definitely avoid having to go off in the wrong direction when you start to build your site.
- Collect the material – quality vs. quantity – scan vs. electronic
- Organize into categories – keep it to 4 or 5
- Graphics: Photos, graphic images, clip art, supplied
- Template vs custom
- Small vs. Large
- Choose a designer
Choosing a designer
Here are a few things to keep in mind and look for when choosing a designer. Just because they CAN build a web site doesn't mean they should be building YOURS!
- Proven track record with ACTIVE sites in a portfolio
- References you can talk to
- Ability to work with you
- Preferably KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR FIELD or sites in a similar or same field
- Availability
- Speaks in layman’s terms – no “geekspeak”
- Overall knowledge with available resources
- Marketing experience
Site and Domain Names
You can find out which names are still available by trying your proposed domain name at Network Solutions (http://networksolutions.com). Try the name that you'd like to use and see if it has been taken. You may have to try several variations until you find the right domain name.
.com, .net, .org, .tv, .biz …..etc
Sub domains – pros and cons. Suppose your ISP raises prices too high, or goes out of business?
The overall look and feel
Remember to find sites on the internet that you really like, regardless of the type of business so your designer can have an idea of what direction to take. This will save a LOT of time.
- What kind of image am I trying to present?
- Type of business matters
- Color palette
- Lowest denominator vs. high tech
- FLASH vs. HTML
Main Graphic to Highlight Your Site
- Custom
- Clip Art
- Existing
- Text only
- Tie in to other material
- Fast loading, Enticing
Index Page and Site Organization
About Your Organization.
This section may include a vision or mission statement, history of your business, a philosophy of how you do business, etc. Sell the customer on why he or she should do business with you rather than with your competitor.
Product Lines.
With photos and text describe the benefits to your customers of your goods and services. You can also show features, applications, or examples. Use a major branch for each major product line. You can also use your Web pages as a catalog, which you can update easily, inexpensively, and often.
Technical Support.
Some businesses find it useful to provide technical information, specifications, frequently asked questions, parts lists and diagrams, troubleshooting decision trees, etc.
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How to order.
This will include a form which e-mail's your customer's information to you. Do you also want to store it for later use? Gather the addresses?
Services Section.
This is free information of interest to your potential customers that'll keep them coming back to your site for updates. It might be news of your industry, of a related field, or something unique or interesting. Give some thought to what service your Web pages will provide to draw customers to your "storefront" again and again.
What's New section is where you put updates or new copies of a newsletter
Basic Page Elements
- Background Color or Texture , WHITE vs BLACK, Color vs background images
- Long pages. These are good if you expect people to print out or download your pages for future reference. Use of jump links navigate within the page itself.
- Multiple shorter pages. Here your index links jump to many shorter pages that treat just one subject each. It doesn't take as long to view, but if you think people will want to download or print out 10 different pages, think again.
- Page title which displays at the top line of your Web browser is very important because it often shows up in search engines such as WebCrawler®, Infoseek®, and AltaVista®. Make this descriptive, using key words that people might use to find your page.
- Top-of-page graphic. A small graphic at the top of each of your pages helps unify your Web pages. You can use a smaller version of your main "index page" graphic.
- Headline Type. Decide what size to use on these "sub-pages" and use it consistently. Limit fonts to 3.
- CSS elements. CSS is a powerful tool that allows greater flexibility in style elements, faster page loads, but there are still issues with browser compatibility. The entire layout of this site is produced using CSS style elements and NOT HTML layouts.
- Last update. Current Date. If your site features up-to-date information, an update date is helpful. But if you don't do much updating, leave the date off or the site will look untended.
- Jump lines. If you have a complex site, you may want to have one or two- word designations which will allow your customer to jump to another section of your web site Most common is a "home" or "top of page" jump, sometimes using "clickable images" or "buttons."
- Links. Although providing useful links to other sites in the same interest group of your potential site visitors may be a good idea, open in a new window and make sure there is a good reason to get the customer interested in a new site.
- Tags. META keyword, description, author, etc.
- E-mail address, to contact you. Can either be a link or a form, but must mask your address to all but the sender.
Finishing Touches
- Special graphic
- Flash
- animation, etc.
- Sound
- Video
Photos and Graphics
GIF vs JPEG vs Flash etc.
PLEASE!!! Think LONG and HARD before using TOO MUCH FLASH on your site. As cool as it may seem, most users hate it and like anything else, think MODERATION!!!
Forms to Get Customer Response
Consider adding a form to gather information and maintain an online mailing list
Hosting Options
Keep it simple, but remember, there is a reason the prices of hosting packages varies. Not all hosts are the same, and you will need to know what your site will be doing so you can decide if you need all the bells and whistles, like database, MYSQL, CGI bins, PERL5, TELNET access, FTP ability, size and bandwidth issues, etc.
Registering and Advertising Your Site
Beware of ANYONE wanting to charge you for guaranteed search engine positioning. It is an absolute scam. The only thing that can increase your search engine positioning is intelligent page development, persistence, and in some cases, paid advertising, such as directly to GOOGLE or YAHOO.
Maintaining Your Site
Code Crew offers maintenance agreements for the sites we build. If this is important to you, check in advance if this is an option. If you plan regular updates, and/or changes, it can get expensive in paid hourly charges if this is not an option. Always ask in advance.
Cost ranges and terms
Although costs of web site development vary wildly, you can expect to pay in the $500 - $700 per page range for a basic, non commerce enabled web site, depending on what kind of interactivity you have. Anything way out of this range either up, or down, should be questioned.
E-Commerce
- PayPal
- Shopping Cart
- Merchant Services
Gauging Success
If your expectation is that by getting a beautiful web site up and running, having examined all the issues and done everything "right", your business will miraculously blossom into an overnight success, prepare to be disappointed.
There is no substitute for a solid business model, and having a web site, in and of itself is not it. Prepare for the long haul. Forge relationships with other business willing to link to your site, promote it whenever and wherever you can, upgrade it frequently, and tweak it to work FOR you, supplementing your other activities that promote your business.
Check your traffic reports, and use the information to see how you're doing, but expect it to take time, like any other business building strategy.
Design Intervention Studio can help you get your business noticed. The rest is up to you.
Note:
For small business, we can put together very small sites that look great at very reasonable rates. These sites generally take about 2 weeks to complete and do not include any special programming other than basic but beautiful functional pages with an integrated navigational system (buttons!)
We offer special rates for Chamber of Commerce members, not for profits, and public servants, but you have to contact us for details.
You can expect to pay about $500 per page for simple sites, although prices vary depending on features and scope of design work.