Purpose

One of the first things you need to decide is what do you want to display on your site. This information will help you explain your concept. Take a few minutes right now to sketch out your thoughts on paper. First you need to answer these questions: Why do you want to have a Web site and what do you hope to achieve?

• Everybody's doing it. The World Wide Web is hot. Everybody is getting a Web presence. I should do it, too, or be left behind.
• Image. We want potential viewers to learn about us, and gain a favorable impression of us.
• Mailing List. We want to develop a qualified list of prospects for our interests.
• Other. Other reasons (write them down).

Begin with patience and take the long-term view. Your results from the World Wide Web may not make much of an impact right away. Be ready for success, but realize that some ideas don't lend themselves to this medium. Find out how similar sites are using the World Wide Web.

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Site Title and Domain Name

Now you need to determine the Title for your Web site. The Title is what is displayed in the Title Bar of your Web Browser and what your site is listed as in most search engines and directories. You may want to use your own name, i.e. "My Name Home Page" but your Web site focus may be different than that implies. Look for a name that is descriptive, unique, short, and memorable. You might also want to check out my Tutorial on "Web Site Promotion " for more information on selecting your Title.

Now give some thought to your domain name. Your domain name is like your address -- it's what people will type to get to your home on the Web. You need to select a domain name that is related to your site name, if possible. You can find out which names are still available by trying your proposed domain name at the InterNIC "whois" interface (http://internic-whois.com/). You may have to try several variations until you find one that's not taken. InterNIC charges $100 to cover the first two years, and then $50 per year thereafter for your domain name. Your Internet Service Provider may charge you a bit more setting this up for you. You need to plan on four weeks lead time to register a domain name, so get started with that right away if you're going to do it.

Another possibility is to use the existing domain of your ISP, something like "www.yourISP.com/mysite". This may work for you and won't cost you anything additional, it just doesn't have the "prestige" of your own domain name. A third, often overlooked, option is to get a "sub-domain" from the .US domain system. It's generally free (but check with your ISP) and is in the form "mysite.yourcity.yourstate.us" but you may have to do the legwork yourself. Check http://www.nic.us/ for .the .US domain information.

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Site Organization

Outline of Sections

Your web site will have several main sections, each of these sections can be either a single page or a group of linked pages. All Web sites need to have the first three listed below, add other sections as appropriate to your needs.

• Home Page. I like to think of it as your "welcome mat" on the World Wide Web. It provides a table of contents to the set of pages that make up your site. It also acts as a "Splash" page and needs to load fast and grab the attention of your viewer quickly.
• Content page(s). With photos and text this makes up the body of your site. You can also use your Web pages as a WebLog, which you can update easily, inexpensively, and often with information you want to share with others.
• Feedback. This will include a form which e-mail's your viewer's comments to you. It should also include a way for the viewer to contact you with feedback about the site and provide you with a way of qualifying people that would like to be on your mailing list. This is the most interactive page on your site and the most important to you. This is where you'll conduct surveys, contests, and use other devices to get your viewer's to come back to your site.
• What's New. Some sites find it useful to provide updated information, newsletters, or something unique or interesting, etc.  This is free information of interest to your viewers that will keep them coming back to your site for updates. Give some thought to what service your Web pages will provide to draw viewers to your pages again and again.

Length of Page

If you have lots of information you need to choose between long or multiple short pages:

• Long Pages. Long pages are useful if you expect people to print out or download your pages for future reference off-line (like this document, for example). You can index these to internal bookmarks, called "anchors", to help your customers find their way to needed information. The drawback is that long pages of more than 35K may take too long to download for your customers to wait for. Also Web-TV users don't understand the concept of scrolling very well.
• Short Pages. Here your index links jump to many shorter pages of two or three screens (the amount you can see on your computer screen) that treat just one subject each. They load fast and viewers don't have to scroll up and down as much (important for Web TV users as well), but your viewers' wont want to download or print out 10 different pages. You can always give them a choice to download a "paginated" version already for printing (or off-line viewing).

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The Elements of a Web Page

Basic Page Elements

Here are the elements that you want to include on every page:

• Page Title. The text that displays at the top line of your viewer's Web browser is very important because it is used by search engines and directories to identify your page. It's also used as the clickable part of your viewer's "bookmark" of your page. Make this descriptive, using key words that people might use to find your page.
• Top-Of-Page Graphic. A graphic logo at the top of each of your pages helps unify your Web pages. You can use a small logo, or perhaps a band at the top of the page with your site's name and a small graphic. Call this something like "logo.gif". That way if you want to change it, you don't have to alter every page, just upload a new image with that name.
• Page Background. Textured and colored backgrounds are proliferating on the Web. They can unify your pages. This is like the tiled wallpaper used on your computer's desktop. I call this something like "bg.gif" so it can be changed easily. Alternatively, you can specify an RGB color for the background. Both texture and color will make your site special, but you have to be careful that your text is easily readable when you're finished. Many Web sites today use a simple white background for readability by most Web browser and monitor configurations.
• Headings. Decide what the heading (and sub-heads) will look like on these pages and use them consistently. Start by creating an outline (down to 3 levels or so) of your content and then decide if you want a "Centered" look or "Flush-Left"(or Right).
• Body Text and Photos. Decide where you want to place the text and photos -- you could have a layout where all the photos are on the left (or right) and the text opposite, you could alternate the photos with the text or you can have both centered one below the other. Check out some magazines and newspapers for ideas.
• Navigation. You need to have Navigation elements that will allow your customer to jump to another section of your Web site (or page, if it's a long one). Most common is a "Home", "Next (or Previous) Page", or "Top of Page" clickable element, either using "clickable images", "buttons", or text. You may want some sort of Navigation Bar if your site has a lot of pages and maybe a "Site Map", which is just an outline of the pages on your site.
• Links. Links to other pages and sites on the Web that your viewer might be interested in. Remember, though, you've just gotten your viewer on your site so don't send him away until he's read your message.
• Signature and Copyright. Sign your pages so the author is apparent (e.g., Designed by A. Webdesigner) and don't forget to link it to a "mail to" form which allows him or her to send you e-mail and feedback on the site. Also add a Copyright line to prove ownership of the page and the elements on it. This, and the next two elements should be in the "Footer" section of the page.
• Last Update. If your site's information changes frequently, an update date is helpful. If the content doesn't change much, don't use the "Last Updated" tag or the site will look as if it's abandoned.
• URL. You don't have to include this, but consider including a line like "URL: http://www.yourname.com/thispage.html". That way if they print the page they'll know how to get back to your Web site.

Other Page Elements

These page elements help to organize information, grab your viewers' attention and generally "jazz up" your Web site.

• Horizontal Rules. These don't take any extra time to download. They can be varied in length and width and set off different sections of a page. Use them to set off the top-level Heading at the top of the page and the Footer at the bottom from the rest of the Body Text.
• Graphic Rules and Lines. These take a few seconds to load, but can spice up your page, especially if they are coordinated with the color scheme you have designed. They can be applied either horizontally (Rules) or vertically (Lines) down one side or to separate two columns.
• List Elements. List elements allow you to create a variety of listing types and outlines. You can create bulleted lists, numbered lists, definition lists(like a dictionary), and menus(like a table-of- contents.)
• Graphic Bullets. Colored balls, arrows, and pointers are also available for use on your pages. A little color goes a long way so use complementary colors for all your graphic elements.
• Graphic Icons. Draw your viewers' attention to items you may have added recently. How about "New", "Updated" or other "Special" icons.
• Tables. Use Tables to present tabular information on your page. You can have either bordered or no-border tables. Table Headings and Captions can also be added.

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Forms: Viewer Feedback

Forms are the method most used to return information from your viewer to you by e-mail. Here are some of the common uses of on-line forms:

• Guestbooks. You can entice viewers to sign your guestbook and perhaps receive a free gift. Their answers to key questions help you decide how people are reacting to your site.
• Requests for Information. Have a place for name, email address, etc., as well as check boxes to request information on how they found your site and where they live.

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K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Guidelines:

• Make your home page fit into one screen if possible, never more than three -- people don't like to have to scroll to get to the "point" of the site.
• Remove all extraneous images and text from all pages -- if it takes more than 20 seconds to view your page they'll go elsewhere.
• Made it easy to navigate throughout the site by providing navigation links at the top and bottom of each page -- use a consistent "style" so that they can navigate your site easily.
• Keep each page to a specific topic -- don't try to "say" everything on one page.
• Use the ALT attribute of the < IMG ...> tag extensively -- 1 out of 5 people browse WITHOUT graphics visible or use a text-only browser.
• Try to keep image sizes to a minimum -- your page should contain no more than 35K of HTML and inline graphics.
• Write the message you want to get across, THEN add any graphics and enhancements -- many sites get so caught up in graphics, that there's little message left to be conveyed.
• Don't use "the latest and greatest" technology just to be "kewl" -- your goal is to communicate, not to show off.
• Do use the simplest device that works to convey a message -- a good site doesn't let the technology get in the way.

Basically, keep everything simple and don't try to throw everything on a single page -- if people can follow your train of thought in terms of web site layout and design, they'll find the information they're looking for. Many sites have pages that are unduly hard to read. What looks good on one monitor, with your eyes, may not look good on another, with someone else's. Don't assume that if you can read it, so can everyone. The commonest mistakes are poor choice of background and foreground colors, and image detail interfering with the text.

HTML became so incredibly popular because it empowers us to communicate in ways previously only dreamt of. You get a real kick the first time you see your words and pictures nicely arranged on the screen -- and you realize that your creation is available worldwide! Then you can go on to discover the power of Java, Java Script, animation, etc., and the end result is that if ever there was something useful on your site, it's buried. Remember that most people will be accessing the Web from a dial-up line -- they won't have the high-bandwidth needed for all the "kewl" animation, sound effects and video clips and these may even "crash" their computers.

You may -- as many do -- emphasize one aspect and neglect the others. The typical case is that a site looks 'kewl', but isn't easy to get around. This may be appropriate for some sites, e.g., small ones acting as billboards on the Internet. They want to get their message across as effectively as possible, and the user is not expected to be spending much time there. Navigation is important and I've occasionally had people say they couldn't find such-and-such on a site, when what they were looking for, was perhaps only a couple of clicks down from the home page. Don't change the method of navigation, or placement of navigation tools on a site if you want people to be able to get to the information they want easily and consistently.

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