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Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine Vol 01 Issue 17
------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine -------
Vol 1, Issue 17
Autumn has been a bit reluctant to arrive here in Michigan. The
weather today was pleasant at least. For mid-Summer. In Texas.
Well, maybe the cooler temperatures will be here tomorrow. In
the meantime I thought we should delve a little further into some
of the techniques we've talked about over the last few weeks. For
this issue we'll be talking about your website. What do you need
to have a basic site and what are some of your alternatives?
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In This Issue...
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1. Article: Sitting on the Web
2. Blog Posts
3. Shameless Self-Promotion
4. The Fine Print
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1. Article: Sitting on the Web
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One of the most basic means of creating a presence on the web is
your website. At its simplest, a website is one or more pages of
information which are located on a computer connected to the
Internet. That information is represented in a special language
called HTML. HTML is just a series of instructions which
describe how the information is supposed to look when one of your
visitors points their web browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer,
etc) at your site.
Of course, that's like saying a Van Gogh is a bunch of colored
paints on a canvas.
If you want to set up a website, you'll have to answer certain
questions. The answers to those questions will give you some
idea as to what you can expect of the final product and how much
the site will likely cost to construct and maintain.
1. Is this a personal or business site? A personal site can get
away with being a little more casual in its design and will
often (but not always) have fewer pages of information than a
business site.
2. How many pages of information do you want to present? Most
professional designers will charge more for a greater number
of individual pages. Oh, and just because you *can* fit
everything on one page on the web, I wouldn't recommend it.
It not only looks bad, but your designer will undoubtedly
figure out your ploy.
3. Will this be a custom-built or template site? Obviously a
custom-built site gives you a lot more control over how
everything looks and works. Unfortunately, unless you are
skilled at graphical layout, site organization, and the use
of HTML editors such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage, creating a
professional-looking custom-built site requires, well, a
professional. Of course, template sites don't necessarily
have to look cheap and amateurish. Check out sites such as
Open Source Web Design (http://www.oswd.org/) for some ideas
of what you can do with templates. One caution: Even the
best template probably won't look as good as a site which has
been specifically designed for the task.
4. Do you want to do it yourself or have it professionally
designed? This is sort of the continuation of #3. If you
are just setting up a simple, personal site without any fancy
bells and whistles and you are technically skilled (or are at
least willing to put in the time necessary to learn the
technologies you need), then you should be able to manage
taking the DIY route. If, on the other hand, the site
requires a professional look or you just don't have the time
or inclination to build a site, then you are far better off
going with a reputable web designer. They will know what
works in a site and the best way to organize the information
so that your visitors will be able to locate what they need.
5. What special features will it require? Do you want to tie
your blog into the site? Will it have so many pages that it
needs a search facility? Will your visitors need to fill out
a form for any reason and submit the information online?
Basically all of these point to features which include more
than just pictures and text. If you want or need such
features, then you'll either need to possess web programming
expertise yourself or be able to hire such an expert (either
separately or through the offices of you web designer).
6. What special services will your site require? If you have
any concerns regarding how your site ranks on the various
search services, then you'll want to talk with a search
engine optimization expert. Are you planning on using Google
Adwords (the service which controls the "sponsored" search
results at the top and side of your Google searches)? You'll
probably want to talk to someone who is knowledgeable in
search engine marketing.
7. Do you want to maintain the site or have someone do it for
you? The work isn't done just because you've unveiled your
new site. "New" becomes "obsolete" in very short order on
the Web. Someone must be responsible for updating your site
with new information on a regular basis. There are tools,
such as content management systems like Drupal or Joomla,
which can help you with this, but they usually require an
expert to install and set up. What you need in the
maintenance area is usually determined by how much (how many
pages) and how often you are planning to change the site. If
you decide to do it yourself, be sure to allot enough time to
keep things up to date. If, however, you think you are
unlikely to maintain it, you would probably be best advised
to make use of a professional web designer for maintenance.
I hope this short primer is enough to get you thinking about your
current or next site and helps you decide how you want to
approach this project. If you had to answer other questions in
order to develop your site, I'd love to hear about them. Please
drop me a line at gpeters@cyberdatasolns.com and tell me all
about it.
Copyright 2007, Greg Peters
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2. Blog Posts
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Links to posts on the "Clearing Up the Confusion" Blog from the
last year:
Saturday, October 06, 2007 -- Looking at Things from All Sides
http://clearing-confusion.blogspot.com/2007/10/looking-at-things-from-all-sides.html
Friday, May 25, 2007 -- Building a Web Tool
http://clearing-confusion.blogspot.com/2007/05/building-web-tool.html
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3. Shameless Self-Promotion
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The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg
Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data
Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better
web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us
on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your
webmaster.
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4. The Fine Print
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