BushArts.com - Web Site Considerations
People are looking for you online! Thinking about getting a Web Site? ...or already got one? Even if it will only show the hours that you are available, what you do or sell, how to get in touch, a background CV, or just another relevant item of interest, a decent web site is now virtually compulsory, is not very difficult to arrange from scratch, and usually not very difficult to improve if not working very well.The Process...
From scratch, it is a Four Part Process...- Develop the Content...
- Purchase a Domain Name...
- Buy space on a reliable Web Server...
Design and Content
Why does Content come first? The content of your site should dictate how the pages are constructed, what type of site you would have, what computer "languages" are used, and on what equipment it is hosted. The Style or Design of your site will not matter until you know how much content you will actually have, as the quantity alone will affect the page size settings, menu system required, and type of backend coding needed. There are many ways to create a Web page, and indeed many ways to view one. Your visitors are extremely unlikely to all be viewing your site on the same sized screen, with the same Web Browser, or with even the same local computer settings. These are just some of the factors that need to be considered first, and the amount and type of content that you wish to show, should dictate how these factors are handled. Is it Relevant? Consider the content necessary to be on the site, if it looks good but has nothing of relevance for your visitors, there is not much point in them visiting, and you will not get value from it. Vice versa... if the content is what people are looking for, but the site is relatively not as pretty, chances are your visitors will have achieved their purpose for coming ...and the site will prove its worth. Are you reading this because it has a pretty background picture, or because it is relevant to your needs? Consider the words a visitor would use to search for a site like yours. If you want to get the visitors that are really interested in what you have to offer, then the words a visitor may search for, will need to be included within your page content. This will let the search engines (EG: Google, Yahoo, MSN etc) know that your page has appropriate relevance, and therefore be listed much earlier in a search. Who do you expect the site to be viewed by? A properly constructed site will be viewed not only by your clients, potential clients, and interested visitors, but will also be looked over by your competition. The Web is International, don't fall into the trap of creating only for a local audience. What is it that you want the site to say, and how much information do you wish to disclose? How will people get around within the site? Navigating throughout the site is another area worth putting a lot of consideration into. People need to know where to get the information they want quickly, and also need to understand just where within the site they are at any moment. Also, put some careful consideration into the future of the website. You may start with only a few pages, expecting to grow the content over time. Plan ahead for future growth, and the site can be coded to allow for growth or additional content without disrupting the existing. Failure to allow for growth may mean starting from scratch every time you want to update the site. So how should it look? This is very subjective, but it should always be your choice. Is there an existing site that you would like to show your designer? Are there other sites with features you would appreciate having? Remember, it is YOUR site, not a showcase for your designer. Avoid the "Fancy" stuff! Fancy stuff on any page, (Page transitions, cute animations, scrolling text, unneeded intro's etc), may be interesting once, but most surfers will have seen it done before, and will only find these annoying upon subsequent (if any) visits. The size of any files you wish to display is incredibly important. Just because you can watch a 10 megabyte movie instantly on your own computer, does not mean that your website visitors will be able to. The same applies to large photographs, or any other website content. All content is merely computer data to be transferred, and many of your visitors may have limits or restrictions on how much data they are able to view without incurring "excess" fees, or may even have restrictions on how quickly they will receive it. Make sure everything you are providing is optimized down to the smallest possible data/file size. Sites made only with Macromedia/Adobe "Flash" often top the list of the most annoying sites on the net, and are difficult for search engines to list. These often are the most beautiful to see sites anywhere, ...but people really do hate having to wait for the entire show to load. Who owns the material? Who holds the copyright? You - or your designer? Do you get a copy of the original source files, or just a license to use? Should the designer be allowed to put a "Site created by..." notice on any page? Is it well coded?... There are Standards for web design. Current (X)HTML standards were released late last century. When getting a site made, is the design to use valid, up to date coding? (there is no excuse for not at least being close to valid code, the current web standards are over 5 years old - is your designer?). Disqualify any designer that does not have their own site up to standard.Why Validate?
Many reasons for coding to the Web Standards, not least of which is that it is actually easier to write valid code! The languages used on the web are the simplest of all computer languages, if your designer cannot handle the simplest stuff, there must be some doubt on what you are getting. One Disclaimer... There are a couple of minor issues with current Web Standards that may prevent a designer from achieving 100% validity perfection. Minor issues only.Domain Name
You will need to purchase a domain name, usually for a period of one or two years. Your Domain name (Web Address) would be the part before (and including) the ".com,.net,.org" or ".com.au" etc. Aussies have access to the .com.au domain name under certain conditions. There are both pros and cons with the .au extension. The .au extension identifies you as Australian, and has eligibility criteria that restrict it to a reasonably legitimate user. A .com name is much cheaper, but the most popular have long been taken.(you can have both). Shop around for the best Domain name price! It is quite common to find large variations between sellers, and don't forget to "renew" your domain name ownership once your initial term expires! You will also need to watch that it is in your (or your company) name. Whoever has the name registered to them, at their web address, has complete control over the site. Don't make it difficult! As for the site name itself, bear in mind that people will need to type in your site name at some stage. You may even pass it on via a business card or over the telephone. Very long names, or names containing difficult keyboard characters are just not practical, and should be avoided at all cost. Keep your choice of domain name as simple as possible; easy to say or type = easy to remember; hard to say or type = people will go elsewhere.
Web Space (Hosting)
You will need a Computer Server to "Host" your site. There are many companies that provide this service, either based within Australia or overseas. Whilst it is quite common to have the site hosted as close as possible to the majority of expected viewers, there are many advantages in having the site within the same time zone. Usually your designer will recommend a suitable hosted plan and company, or may self provide this service. Site Hosting in particular involves a few background setup issues. These should be addressed as part of your total site structure, and are usually dependant on your site content. Reliability... How reliable is the equipment used to host your site? How reliable are the Host owners? Who do you get in contact with should there be a site problem? Can you get easy online access 24/7? Does the price represent competitive value? Will the hosting company be around in years to come? Do not believe any claim or guarantee of 100% uptime, it is simply not realistic. Security... What provisions for site security will there be? Is it likely to be "Hacked"? Will personal and private information be secure? Is your (and your clients) email address to be protected from spammers? Does your content need additional security, or are you prepared to see it copied elsewhere? Who gets the site and domain password and site details? Extras... What server features are available? Which of these features are of benefit? How is email handled from this site? Is the email setup to match the Domain name? Can you use the site from Home as well? What other features are available? What sort of feedback will you get about your site visitors? Can people easily get in touch with you from the site, with specific questions? What happens if it doesn't work? Do you get to redirect people that make a typing mistake? Do you get your own Icon to show in a Browser address bar? Promotion... Will your site be found by search engines? or lost among the millions of others? Build it and they will come? Not! Will the search engine "robots" be able to accurately list the parts of your site that you want them to? Will the "Bad Robots" be told to go away? Statistics... Every single request to your site is "Logged" by the web server. Whether someone is viewing a web page, just an image, or any other request on your server, a record is kept in the form of a server log. These logs are then used to present the site statistics. How do you get to access the Statistics for the site? What will the Statistics show? Maintenance... How do you go about creating backup copies of the site? How often will you need to update the site? Never allow "out of date" information to remain visible. How much time do you have available to commit to the site yourself? Will you do the maintenance, or leave it all up to your designer? How long will it take to do an update? What happens if a server or software upgrade "breaks" parts of your site? Will you be charged for the repairs? Content Management Systems... One of the current trends within this industry is the use of "Content Management Systems" (CMS). Modern versions now output valid code. These are server based programs that allow an end user a very easy web browser based maintenance/updating process. They are very suitable for many small to medium sites, but do need to be setup correctly from the very beginning. Ask for a full demonstration before committing yourself to one of these systems.Future Proofing...
Site requirements often change over time, coding methods go in (and out) of fashion, Web Browsers or Web Servers do get updated, and new security measures are occasionally needed, any of which can have a significant impact on an existing site. Ask for some allowances for the future needs of your site wherever possible, by building in the capacity to quickly and easily adapt to any necessary changes. In example, this can be as simple as having little "invisible" comments within the web code, explaining how the pages are constructed, or having the menus written into an easily changeable external text based file, instead of being explicitly coded into each page. Should you make yourself aware of how and why the site gets constructed the way it has, you will be much better placed to understand the consequences of any future internet changes.Pricing
There are Five factors that should make up your total pricing structure. And whilst each can be purchased independently of the other, many developers roll these together into a single packaged price.- Domain Naming Fees (Street Pricing - .com around Au$20pa, .com.au around Au$50pa)
- Hosting and Bandwidth Fees (Street pricing - around Au$1.00 per Mb of space)
- Creative Fees (Many Pro's suggest an hourly rate between Au$70 - $120 per hour, allow 2 hours per page as a rough guide.)
- Coding or setup Fees (As above)
- Maintenance Charges (As above)