Build Your Own Site: Making Pre-Set Templates Your Own

This part of your site design gets a little trickier. Most of the WYSIWYG Web authoring programs come with templates that you can edit to suit your needs. It's a good way to introduce yourself to Web design -- by using someone else's! It can also produce some professional-looking results.

One way to personalize your site while still using a template is to create your own top and side navigation banners. By using the same dimensions of the template's navigation graphics, you can make sure yours still fit and don't throw off the rest of the page.

You can also change the color palette of the site. Matching the color of your logo and creating new graphics in the same style as your logo will help pull the site together and give it a more consistent look and feel. But what is look and feel? It's the overall impression you get when you look at something. Does it make you think of old money? Something trendy? The flower-power generation? That sort of thing. The feelings and images you think of when you visit the site. The impressions you have of the type of company.

Some Design Tips

• White space is your friend. Just like in printed brochures, your Web site will look much better with a good balance of graphics, text and white space. Use the white space to better define and draw attention to your site's navigation system. Not only will your site look better, it will also load faster. One of your goals in designing your site is to make the experience a good one for your visitors. If you site is slower to load than molasses in Alaska then your potential customers will become someone else's potential customers! Not everyone has broad band Internet access -- in fact a pretty small percentage do (currently about 30% for 2001 according to Media Metrix) -- so keep your pages fast and lean.
• Who you are and what you do. It should be immediately obvious on your home page what your company does, and what the visitors can find on your site. Your navigation structure is critical. Don't make your visitors have to think about how they might find something -- make it blatantly obvious. In fact, some say you should never have anyone more than one click away from being able to purchase something (assuming, of course, you're selling products on your site).
• Give them what they need. Don't make your site too text-heavy. Keep it short, bulleted and to the point. People visiting your site won't read long passages of text ("pot, meet the kettle" -- I know, but our site has a different purpose!). It's true, but -- and this is another pretty big but -- you have to provide enough information for them to make a decision right then, or else you chance losing the sale to a site that does. For instance, if you're selling relatively complicated products that have a lot of specifications to compare, make it easy on your shoppers. Include links to all of the relative information they might need. The "Links" to more information are very important. Browsers (and I mean the shoppers not their Web software) don't want to wait on slow loading pages that are full of every scrap of information you have about a product. They want to see the general product description and be able to click a link to go to the meat of the subject. The same goes for product photos. Keep thumbnail size photos on the primary product description page, but have them linked to a larger image so if the shopper wants to see the fine crafted detail of the piece then they can click and see it in all its glory. Another helpful addition that may keep shoppers on your site as opposed to your competitor's, can be tables that compare specs from your products with those of competing products so you can show how your products are better and have more features. Or, if you have a lot of similar products that vary in certain areas, create a table comparing your own products. You can also include interactive tools that compare products the shopper has selected from your own product line by clicking a check box next to the item, and then clicking on a "compare" button. A table then comes up that compares those items side by side.
• The good, the bad, and the ugly. A good site can look great, a bad site can look great, and an ugly site can still be great. No matter how nice your site looks, if it's difficult to navigate, or if you don't know exactly what the site is about when you go there then you're still missing the boat -- and tossing a lot of money off the pier while your watching it sail away! The first thing you have to think about is the site's purpose and function -- not the cool graphics, or the colors, or the flash animations. In fact, those sites who start with a fancy animation that makes dial-up visitors bang their heads on their monitors while they wait for it to load really stomp on my last good nerve. (Yes, I still "dial-up.") Always -- let me stress this -- ALWAYS have a very obvious "SKIP THIS INTRO" button that people can click to get past your animation. Another unnecessary step many sites force their visitors to take is having a lead-in to their home page. There will be a page with the company logo on it and an "ENTER SITE HERE" button. Why? I don't know, but they get on my nerves too. Don't do it. Take your visitors directly to what they want to see -- your content. (Remember, many of them are surfing on company time and they have to speedy about it if they don't want to get caught!) The layout of your pages, which you hopefully have already drawn out and labeled, will help you (or your designer) determine the best design for your site. It's hard to come up with a design if you don't already have an idea of the number of category pages, types of site functions, etc. So, as I've mentioned in other sessions of this workshop, plan it out FIRST so your site has a better chance of being both good AND aesthetically pleasing.
• Real live people, or at least an address. Make sure visitors to your site can find you in the real world when they need to. Even if your business is only a 'cyber' business you should still have a physical address or PO box, and a phone number where someone can contact you if they have a question. Not only will it give those who are leery of online purchasing a way to still place an order, it will also give them a higher comfort level that your business is legitimate.
• Finally, if you want people to visit your site, jump ahead to our "Promotion" workshop and read about optimizing your pages for search engines. It's much easier to incorporate the information search engines look for into your pages as you design them rather than having to go back after the fact and add the information in.

Web Design Firms

So maybe after reading all of this you've decided your best bet is to hire a professional Web design firm to do it for you. One word of warning -- it's not cheap! If you know your business site is going to HAVE to HAVE some heavy hitting database-driven interactive functions then you are probably making a wise choice -- just don't say I didn't warn you.

So, get your quotes, pick yourself up off the floor, brush yourself off, and get to work. Yes, hiring someone else to do it still requires a lot of work and planning from YOU. You're going to have to provide them with words, images of your products, the purpose and outline of what you need, and a lot of direction. Many design firms do offer assistance in planning and pointers in what works and doesn't, but you still have to be very involved -- at least if you want to get what you want.

Web Hosting: What Does a Host Do?

When you think of a host you may think of a smiling man or woman greeting you at the door and handing you a cool beverage. Or, you may think of a body that supports another parasitic one. Your relationship with your Web site host is kind of a symbiotic combination of the two. You depend on them and they depend on you -- and it can be good, or it can be bad. The thing to remember as you plan and build your online business, is that your Web host is a very important part of it. Bad customer service and support when problems arise (which they probably will at some point) can cost you a lot of money in lost sales and bad first impressions for the visitors arriving at your site while the problem persists. So make sure you get all of the facts about the host you choose for your business.

A Web host leases space for your Web files on their server, which has a direct connection to the Internet. You can either choose a Virtual Web Host who will allow you to use your own domain name, or a Non-Virtual Web Host who will give you a subdomain name that uses their primary domain name. For example, with a non-virtual Web host, your Web address might be http://www.earthlink.com/~yourname/yourwebfiles.html. There are some non-virtual Web hosts, however, that will let you use your own primary domain name, so be sure to ask.

The good thing about non-virtual Web hosting is that it is usually free. Many times the ISP who provides you with your Internet connection and e-mail address will also give you 5-10 MB of free space for a Web site along with a handful of simple tools for creating a Web site and uploading your files. While this might be great for your family or personal Web site, you probably don't want to use it for a business.

Some of the downside issues with non-virtual Web hosts are that the tools and capabilities are usually limited. Many of these hosts limit the types of CGI scripts you can use to their own pre-installed scripts for things like guest books, processing e-mail forms, etc. In other words, you may not be able to have an e-commerce site on a non-virtual site. You may also have to have advertisements on your site that you may not want. And finally, your Web address will not be easy for your customers to remember, and won't make your business appear to be very stable or legitimate.

Virtual Web hosting will typically provide a faster and more reliable connection, better management tools, support for higher level functions, and will range in price from about $10-$50 and on up for more complicated sites.

It is also possible to host your own site although, unless you know how to do it and have a good dedicated connection to the Internet, I don't recommend it for a new online business venture.

Web Hosting: What to Look for in a Host

Remember all of the site planning I mentioned in Planning the Party? Well, pull it back out when you start trying to decide on a host. Make a list of all the things your site will do and then list new functions you want to add in the future. (Plan as far out as five years even!) When you start talking to hosts you'll need to tell them the features your site will need.

Start by going to some of the Web host review sites listed on our Links page and see which ones look like likely candidates. Many of these sites will allow you to enter your requirements and compare host packages or even automatically request quotes from several vendors.

Compare the various features included in their packages. Most should provide account holders with:

• site statistics about how many visitors came to their site and which pages they visited, as well as how long they stayed on the site
• FTP software for uploading your Web files to their server
• e-mail accounts and possibly auto-responders that can simplify response needs like a "thank you -- your order is being processed" e-mail when someone orders a product from your site
• e-commerce tools like easily customized product order forms
• regular site backups
• secure socket layer (SSL) capabilities and other security measures for e-commerce
• an account control panel that lets you do administration functions for your site from your browser (this is relatively new)

There are other features hosts offer so it is important to investigate your options. You might also talk to other online business owners and see what their host experiences have been like. See what tools they use and what tools their hosts have provided. Ask them how many problems they've had with their host and anything else you can think of to help you put a list of prospective host candidates together. Get as many recommendations as you can.

Web Hosting: Screening Potential Hosts

Once you have list of potential candidates for hosting your new business venture, ask for a quote for hosting your site. Provide them with the list of your site's needs that you prepared above, give them a reasonable amount of time to respond, and then see what you get back.

If they don't respond to your request by the deadline you've given them then take them off the list. Use that as an indicator of what future dealings with them might be like and move on to the other candidates.

Ask the host these specific questions regarding their service:

• Are there any setup fees?
• Do they offer design or programming services if you should need them and what are the costs?
• How much free support can you get?
• When is there a fee for support?
• How do you go about canceling your account, and is there a fee involved?
• What tools and software do they offer?
• What is their uptime guarantee and how do they compensate you for lost time? (You can have your site uptime monitored by Alertsite, or NetMechanic.)
• How much data transfer (or bandwidth) do they offer?
• What is their backup method and schedule?
• How much space can your site use?
• What are their upgrade policies if your site grows? Beware of hosts offering unlimited data transfers and unlimited site storage. Those things cost them money and they're gambling that your site (and others) won't use as much as you think, but when your usage increases you may be stuck with additional charges.
• Ask them for a list of clients for you to contact as references. Then CONTACT them. The host's simple good-will act of providing you with a reference list doesn't always mean the clients will have all favorable comments about them. (Although many probably will or they would have been screened out by the host in the first place!)
• When you call the references ask them about the downtime they've experienced and how closely it matches what the host has said is average; about how well they've been reimbursed for this downtime.; about how well the host has been about customer support and service and anything else you can think of!
• Test out their customer support by dropping them an e-mail and seeing how long it takes them to respond. Or, call them at random times and see how helpful and accessible they are.

So, the main thing here is to do your homework. Do a test drive if you can. Then just make the best decision you can based on what you know about your hosting candidates. If you do get into a bad host relationship all it can cost you is time, money, and a little bit of aggravation.