Building
a Web Presence:
What
to Consider When Developing a
Site
THINGS TO
CONSIDER WHEN PLANNING A WEB
SITE
- Do
I need a Web site?
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WEB PRESENCE RESOURCES
Domain
Registration
Search
for domain names: www.allwhois.com
List
of accredited domain
name registrars: www.icann.org
You
may want to register
the same name with
different endings
(e.g., .net, .com,
and .org) as well as
alternate spellings
to ensure that
customers will be
able to find you no
matter which ending
they happen to type.
Web
ToolKit
Decimal IPs - Converts a decimal IP (e.g. 2130706433) into
an IP.
URL deobfuscator -
De-obfuscates
confusing URLs.
Reverse DNS lookup
- See if your IP has
a reverse DNS entry.
CIDR/Netmask -
Calculates CIDR
ranges (e.g.
192.168.112.0/24).
Ping - Shows
how long it takes
for packets to reach
a host.
Geolocation by IP
Address -
geolocation to find
the city and country
of an IP.
Traceroute - Traces
the route packets
take to this host.
CSE HTML Validator
http://www.ipaddressguide.com/
Hosting
Find
a host for your
site: www.ispcheck.com
Developers
(articles)
"How
to Hire a Web
Designer" www.inc.com/articles/2001/06/22731.html
Design and
Development Tips
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Maybe you do not need to have a presence on
the Web. It could be that your
marketing dollars are better
spent somewhere else. However,
many people will not discover
your products or services
through any other means. The
Internet has become an
expected tool of modern
business, like the phone or
fax, and companies or
professionals without a Web
site may appear behind the
times.
- What
are my goals for the site?
If you do decide to move ahead, it is
important to know why you are
building the site. Is it for
sales or marketing? Is it a
tool for communication or an
on-line brochure? Do you want
to sell products through the
site, or just educate
consumers about them? Do you
want to increase membership in
your organization, or offer
Web-based benefits to current
members? Do you want visitors
to e-mail you? Call you?
Subscribe to a newsletter?
Knowing your goals will help
focus your ideas for the site.
- What
am I trying to sell or
promote?
Even if you do not like the idea of selling
yourself, it is what we all
do, every day, if we want to
be successful. Do not be
afraid of sales and marketing.
Finding the answer to this
question will determine what
are the most important themes
of the site, what to name the
buttons, and the tone to use
when writing the content.
- What
are the steps to getting a
Web site up and running?
Design and development come fist. The
architecture of the site needs
to be selected. An appropriate
look and feel must be
designed. The copy needs to be
written, and any additional
tools such as on-line forms,
shopping carts, and audio
clips need to be added.
Hosting
is another fundamental issue.
Just as you might rent office
space, your Web site needs to
be hosted somewhere so people
can reach it.
Lastly,
upkeep is important. Once
live, a good site continues to
post fresh material, giving
people a reason to return.
- What
content do I need to build
the site?
First, create an outline around the themes
you want to promote. Second,
remember that the outline
represents pages that need
content, text and images that
will help educate your
visitors. The images may
include a logo or photos of
people or products. Poor
quality photos or bad clip art
can make the most attractive
site look amateurish;
sometimes no photos can be
better than poor ones.
- Do
I hire a professional or
do it myself?
If you have the skills, the time, the
talent, and most importantly
the desire to design and
develop the site, then by all
means, do so. However, keep in
mind that when you hire a
professional—whether it is
to create a Web site, change
your oil, or give you
financial advice—you
immediately acquire thousands
of hours of experience, access
to the latest tools of the
trade, and insider knowledge
of the industry. Since an
unprofessional Web site can be
worse than no site at all, it
is strongly suggested that you
do what you do best and
outsource the rest.
- What
are my responsibilities to
create an effective site?
Even if you hire a professional Web
developer, your input is
essential because no one knows
your business as well as you
do. Before you hire a
developer, you should review
his portfolio and ask for
referrals. You should expect
to help develop a site outline
with your developer, pull the
copy together, and give input
on the layouts presented to
you.
Once
your site is live, you should
also budget time to add
content on a regular basis.
You should reply to e-mails
and inquiries in a timely
fashion to show you have not
abandoned your site.
- What
will this cost for
start-up and ongoing
maintenance?
This is a young industry, so there is still
a wide range in billing rates.
The Pricing
Guide for Web Services,
second edition, found pricing
from $25 to $250 an hour for
Web work, and Web pages from
$30 to $1,500. As a rule, you
get what you pay for. An
experienced designer and
developer are worth their
weight in gold.
Start-up
costs for a Web site will
include registering a domain
name (currently $35 for one
year, according to www.alldomains.com),
and a one-time setup fee on a
Web server of $25–$50. A
simple site between five and
15 pages might cost between
$1,200 and $3,500. You should
add approximately $1,000 or
more if you will be adding
on-line ordering. Add-ons such
as bulletin boards,
multimedia, newsletters, and
forms will cost extra.
Ongoing
costs include hosting fees
that can range from $30 to
$100 per month. Regular
updates to your site can cost
$25 to 100 per instance,
depending on the amount of
content involved.
- How
do I attract more traffic
to my site?
Search engines, links, advertising, and
more. A good developer will
make your site search engine
user-friendly and submit your
site to search engines and
directories on your behalf.
You should create reciprocal
links with complementary
sites.
Consider
advertising on specific search
engines, e-mail newsletters,
and traditional media. Put
your URL (Web site address) on
your business cards,
stationery, voice mail, and so
on. Send out free e-mail
newsletters. Add a
"Recommend this Site to a
Friend" form on your Web
site. Continually update and
improve on your site.
Reviewing your site's traffic
reports can alert you to what
visitors are finding
interesting and what they are
ignoring.
- How
will I know that my site
is successful?
Look at your goals every three to six
months. Have you met them? If
so, is it time to create new,
more challenging goals?
Other MDEC Resources
- The
Most Common Web Sins
- There are many flat-out
"ugly" websites.
Some estimates are as high
as 70% of the web.
This article attempts to
identify some of the more
common problems and give
you some practical
guidance to correct the
problems.
- The
International Website
- Let's face it!
There are a lot of really
bad websites on the World
Wide Web. As many as
75% (maybe more) of all
existing websites need
improvements. These
are some of the problems
associated with websites
in the international
arena.
- Web
Site Localization
- The use of Web sites
continues to grow in leaps
and bounds. In business,
these sites typically
address marketing, sales,
and information management
for shared data across
corporate Intranets.
What you say and how you
say it may be crucial to
your future success.
Credit
This article has been
contributed by Rich Brooks,
president of flyte
new media, a Web design
and Internet marketing firm.
They offer free Web marketing
information through their
email newsletter flyte
log.
Date Updated: March 27, 2007
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