Research
The best advice we can offer is to look at many web sites published on the Internet. There will be some you like and some you don't. Make notes about what it is that you like about a particular site and if you wish, print out the page as a reminder. Also make a list of those things that you don't particularly like or that won't work for your business. Examples of favourite sites will assist the designer with your web site.
Choosing a colour scheme
Your web site colour scheme should complement your corporate colours. Bold colours are eye catching but your important messages need to be the main focus so choose a colour scheme that offers good contrast. Dark backgrounds are fine for headings but not for an entire site as it can be difficult to read the content against the background.
Choosing a layout
Generally, there are three basic elements to a web page. They are:
- The banner which contains your business name, logo and slogan and is usually shown at the very top of your page.
- The navigation bar allows your customers to move from page to page
- The content section which has your main text.
You might also consider including a "news" panel for important information such as a sale or specials. A footer is where you can place information such as the date your web site was last updated, disclaimer, conditions of sale etc.
Your site navigation menu
Your layout is your personal choice and it is useful to think about the placement of your menu which determines the basic structure of your site. Single word menu headings for up to 6 menu items can be shown across the top of your page. More than that won't fit at the top and should be listed either to the left (traditional) or to the right of your page.
Menus can also be split. For example, I have placed helpful pages to the right of my page with some site information at the bottom of each page. It is sometimes useful to include a "site map" that shows visitors all the links in one place. You may have seen a "where am I" sequence of links placed towards the top of a text section. These are called "breadcrumbs" and are a good idea if you have a complicated navigation structure. The rest of the page has your "content".
How many pages do you need for your site
A small web site should contain at least 5 pages and probably no more than 10 main menu links. Of course you can have many more pages than 10 accessed from a nested menu. At a minimum, we recommend some or most of the following:
- a welcome or home page - more on that below
- a contact page so your customers can contact you. It may have your location and/or postal address, email address and telephone numbers
- a page that has information about your business
- one page or more about your services or merchandise
- optional links page to sites relevant to your business
- other useful information such as newsletters, interview transcripts, photos or images, events.
Your menu and banner graphics appear on all your site pages and you need to think carefully about what you call your menu links. They must be short - one or two words - and descriptive. The main page is usually called "home".
Your Home Page
This page is the most important page on your site. It is the first page your customers see and it should contain a summary of your site so that visitors know what to expect. Not enough information on this page will probably result in your visitor leaving your site because they may not see what they are searching for. Too much information and your visitor may become bored and move to a competitors site. We recommend that your home page should be no larger than one or two screens long and contain minimal graphics so that it loads quickly.
Your other pages
Once you have your customers attention on the home page, they will click on your menu items to find out more information. The secondary pages can be longer - no more than a few screens in length - and have more graphics. By this time, visitors tend to be a little more forgiving about load times but don't go overboard. Now you have their attention, you need to keep it.
Freebies are always a good attention grabber so think what you can offer your customers online. Building a mailing list is "gold" for your business so consider asking them to email you for a regular "newsletter" or catalogue. Also put some thought into enticing them to return to your site another time.
Publishing your web site
There are two things you need to be able to publish your web site online; web server space and a web address. Your Internet service provider (ISP) will be happy to organise these for you or you can arrange these yourself. Capricorn Web can point you in the right direction if you need help.
A domain name registration (yourname.com.au) can cost anywhere from $30 to $140 for two years depending on which domain registration service you or your ISP use. If you don't want that expense, you may opt for a sub domain name such as "users.bigpond.net.au/yourname/" as an address. A sub domain name may come as a freebie with your web server space rental.
Web server space can be rented from your ISP or from another provider and prices vary significantly depending on how much space you require and what functions are supported (email server as an example). As a starter for a small site, your monthly or yearly rental may be quite low or available free as part of your ISP monthly charge. We recommend that you contact your ISP to find out what is available to you. Again, we are happy to discuss your needs with you and assist.
Once you have arranged for web server space, the provider will send you the site uploading details, including the name of the ftp server, your user name, password and upload path. We will need access to these details to transfer your new web site design onto the server.
Advertising your web site
Once your wonderful new web site is up and running, you will need to tell people about it. The following ideas may be useful to you:
- include your web site address on your stationery
- contact Telstra (for the White Pages entry) and ask for your web address to be included with your telephone number
- if you have an advert in the yellow pages, contact Sensis and have them include your web address
- provide your web address as a link in your emails
- get listed with Google and other search engines - we can help you do that
- organise links to your web site from other web sites
- tell your friends and family.