So you want a website . . .So you want a website . . .

Presentation Goals

Explain the basic building blocks

Speak “non-geek” and demystify the process

Answer your questions

Help you know where to go from here

What is your name?What is your name?

What is a domain name?

A domain name is the name that customers will use to find your site, e.g. www.agora-net.com

How do I pick a name?

Pick a name that’s easy to connect with you

Pick a name that’s short

Consider more than one name in some cases

Typically pick a .com name if you are a business and .org if you are a non-profit organization

Have more than one name in mind in case your top choice is taken

Getting a Domain NameGetting a Domain Name

Where do I get one?

You become the “owner” of a domain name when you pay a registration fee for using it. The companies that provide the registrations are called “registrars”.

To register a name, you go to the website of any accredited registrar (or a reseller), create an account and pay the registration fee.

How much are the registration fees?

Registrars compete for your business so fees vary. Typical fees range from $10/year to $35/year per name.

Buyer BewareBuyer Beware

Make sure your domain name is registered in your name or the name of your organization

Know your registrar. If you get a notice from a registrar other than your own, ignore it!

SummarySummary

Your domain name is your identity on the web

Pick a name that’s short and easy to remember

You register domain names with an accredited registrar for a yearly fee

Get your name registered in YOUR name

Who are you?Who are you?

Where do I start with a design?

What do you need?

Logo?

Consistent branding?

New site? Redesign?

Who is your site FOR?

What do you want your site to DO?

What is your budget?

The “look”The “look”

What defines your organization?

Use a consistent branding

Determine what “feel” you want

Determine the top 5 or 6 blocks of information you need to convey, e.g. “About Us”, “Products”, “Services”

Know your audience, e.g. age, web-savvy, on-the-go

How much does “look” matter?

What should it DO?What should it DO?

How will people use your site?

Gather information about you

Buy your products

Networking with you and/or each other

Register for events

Share files

Access confidential information

Watch videos

Who should build it?Who should build it?

Use internal resources

Do it yourself

Use a relative, employee, neighbor

Get started with a template

Buy a template and build on it

Hire a designer and/or developer

Hire a graphic designer for a logo and/or site template

Hire a developer to add your features

All of the above

Who should build it?Who should build it?

Use internal resources

Do it yourself or use a relative, employee, neighbor

Low cost but quality and timing may suffer

Get started with a template

Buy a template and build on it

Inexpensive, Quick start

Hire a designer and/or developer

Hire a graphic designer for a logo and/or site template

Hire a developer to add your features

Most expensive but offers most options

How much does it cost?How much does it cost?

Consider all “costs”

Money

Your time

Weigh it with the benefits

Saving staff time

Increase office efficiency

Money

Templates: Free – Thousands; Lots around $50

Logo design: Plan for $1000 - $2000

Custom design: Plan for $1000 - $2000

Custom Full site: Plan for $1500 - $5000 depending on features

Important FeaturesImportant Features

Content

Write for the web

Use pictures to liven up pages

Avoid twirling flaming things

Avoid background music unless needed

Use the power of linking

Important FeaturesImportant Features

Accessibility

About 20% of people have a disability

Make sure your site is programmed well for all types of disability

Visual - Blindness, low vision, color-blindness

Hearing – use captioning

Movement - Inability to use a mouse, slow response time

Cognitive - Learning disabilities, inability to remember or focus on large amounts of information

It’s good business … and may be the law

Important FeaturesImportant Features

Help people find your site

Make your pages search-engine friendly

Get linked with other partner businesses

Include your web address on all printed materials

Test, test, test

Do your menus work?

Do your links work?

Spelling ok? Grammar?

Does your site work in all major browsers?

SummarySummary

Determine what you need

Determine the features you’d like

Determine your budget

Examine your resources

Make your site a reflection of you

Make your site usable by everyone

Test!

Where do you live?Where do you live?

What is hosting?

Hosting involves putting your web pages on a computer (server) that has a connection to the Internet

What does that really mean?

Web servers are computers specially designed for delivering your web pages to your customers.

“Hosting companies” maintain several of these servers and support them so that your site is always available

Why do I need a host?Why do I need a host?

Professional web hosting offers:

Power backups

Data backups

Email service, e.g. you@yourdomain.com (use it!)

Fast connections to the internet

Ability to handle lots of requests at once

Climate control

Security

24/7 monitoring

Customer service

How much does it cost?How much does it cost?

How much does hosting cost?

Packages vary widely

Typical prices are $10/month - $50/month for “shared hosting” services

If you have greater needs, you can pay several hundred dollars/month

Are all similarly-priced packages equal?

No. Check around and get references for hosting companies. Some inexpensive packages may not provide you with the level of speed, reliability and customer services that you need.

SummarySummary

Hosting means putting your web pages on a special “server” computer

Hosting companies maintain banks of servers designed just deliver web pages, email and other related features

Hosting prices and packages vary:

Check out the reputation of the company – get referrals

If your site is down all the time or is too slow, customers won’t come back

Will you still love me Will you still love me tomorrow?tomorrow?

Keep your content fresh

Offer reasons for people to come back

Coupons

Be a resource

Offer a useful service

Search engines like active sites

Will you still love me Will you still love me tomorrow?tomorrow?

Who will do your updates?

Internal Resources

Outside Developers

Both

Can you do it yourself?

Content Management Systems (CMS)

Editing Software (works like a word processor)

Adobe Contribute

Coffee Cup

Homesite

Hand-program it

What do you need to know?What do you need to know?

Questions?