Planning your web site
Published April 11, 2009 | 
If you follow these planning guidelines for a better quality web site, you will save hours of frustration later.
Once you have registered your domain name and arranged your hosting, it is very tempting to dive right in putting pages on your new web site. Without proper planning, however, you will quickly find that the web you have woven has become very tangled.
The first think to consider is the focus of your web site. In general, is your web site to share information, sell products or build relationships? Who is your primary audience? You also need to consider how technically savvy your readers are? What age group or social demographic? What information will your readers expect to find on your web site? What information do you have readily available for your readers? What types of information do you expect to put on your Web site, e.g., calendar, newsletters, staff profiles, etc.? Who will be the “webmaster” — the web manager — of your web site? Will you have assistance in maintaining your web site? How often do you expect to update the content on your web site? How much time per week or per month will you dedicate to updating your site? Continue reading
Perfecting your web site’s navigation
Published April 7, 2009 | “Build it and they will come” — at least, that’s what you’ve probably heard from a lot of web design firms wanting your dollars but not caring if your web site is a success. We’ll cover how to attract visitors on another page. Once you’ve got them, however, you’ve got to keep them interested. If your navigation isn’t easy to understand and consistent across all the pages of your site.
Navigation is crucial
The components that make up the navigational structure of a web site are known as navigational elements. The first thing to consider is your domain or company name. If your company name is well branded, potential visitors may enter it into their browser’s address bar or a search engine. So although your name isn’t normally considered a navigational element, it becomes one when used to locate your web site. If this is a possibility for your site, keep your web site name short, don’t use punctuation or unusual spelling. You should also keep your subfolder names short, too, and for best search engine rankings, use keywords. Continue reading
Posted in Web Design | 
breadcrumb, link, navigation, usability, web deign, web site | 
Leave a comment