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by Matt
McGovern
Fuel
for your business
As many of us have discovered—some more painfully than others—building a
Web site or enhancing an existing one can be a long, arduous process. For
the uninitiated, uninformed, or simply uninterested, steps such as
registering your domain name, assessing the needs of your target
audience, determining design elements and basic Web site
functionality, formatting and writing Web copy that captures the
essence of your business and the interest of visitors—and then
maintaining and updating all of this on a regular basis—can feel
rather weighty and daunting.
Frustrated, many often throw up their hands and ask, “Where do I begin?”
Starting point
Let’s assume, for purposes of this article, that you’ve already assessed your business needs as they relate to the Web, have identified your target audience, and have a pretty good handle as to the basic Web site functions you need.
The next step logical step is to begin building your site, and
that process begins once you’ve answered three key questions:
- “How involved do I want to be in the actual hands-on development of my site?”
- “Do I want to coordinate the entire process myself?”
- “How do I want to handle ongoing maintenance and updates?”
Choose
your role
Based on your level of expertise, your knowledge of programming
and software, and your desire to learn; you may decide—as I did—to
actively participate in all aspects of your Web site’s development, to
include actual programming, design, writing, implementation, and
maintenance.
If you aren’t so inclined to take on Web design and programming
duties yourself, but you don’t want to give up all control, you
might decide you are best suited to coordinate the
activities of others as they do the actual design, programming and
implementation work.
If you have no interest in the technical aspects of the process, you
may opt to simply turn over the
entire project to someone capable of
coordinating it from start to finish—a project manager—and limit your
personal involvement to
review and approval
of critical elements along the way.
Know
the players
Whichever role is right for you, there are a multitude of key
players—some apparent, some not so readily apparent—necessary to
make your Web site come to life…and it behooves you to understand
better the roles of each so you can make more informed decisions
about your Web presence.
Depending on where you are in the building process—starting from
scratch or updating an existing site—the
list of key players may
include any number of the following:
- Web consultant
- Domain registrar
- Web host
- Web designer
- Web programmer
- Web copywriter
- Webmaster
Sometimes more is less
A great deal of effort and attention to detail is necessary to build a
well-thought out, visually pleasing, informative, and functional Web
site that can—as it must—grow with you and your business's changing
needs.
Unless you have the technical aptitude or inclination, building or
refining a Web site is going to require the help of at least one
specialist who knows his or her way around the Web—otherwise you’ll
spend time trying to run both your business and manage your Web
site...and you’ll
soon run yourself ragged.
You may actually find that
in terms of time, money and other not-so-tangible resources—such
as your own mental health and stress
levels—that having
more
qualified help available will actually cost you less in the long run.
Check out
Fuel
cells for a look at
some of the key players in the Web development
process, the role each plays, and how you may need to interact with
them. Armed with knowledge and understanding, you
can take control
of your Web destiny!
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Fuel
cells
“Who's
Who”
in
the Web development
process
At long last—a guide to
several of the key players involved
in designing, building, hosting and maintaining your Web site.
Web consultant
A Web consultant
is someone who
provides insight
and guidance
concerning your Web
site (or the Web
in general) so you
are better able to make important decisions
from a basis of understanding and thoughtfulness, rather than
from a need to simply
react. For those with
little or no experience working with
Web designers, programmers,
Web hosts, or other key players, working
with a Web consultant may be
an effective first
step.
Domain registrar
There are many online services where you can
register your Web site domain name by typing in the name you
want, finding out immediately if it (or a variation) is available, and
then paying online by credit card.
Registering a
domain name
typically costs
less than $25 dollars a
year. For
administrative simplicity
it's often
advisable—especially if you
already have a Web host in mind that provides domain registration services
(many do)—to
register your
domain name
directly with the Web host.
Web hosting companies
often charge
little or nothing
for this if you also agree to have them host your site.
Web host
The
Web host provides the
computer (or “server”) where your Web site
programs, files and images reside.
This location on
their server is
what you give out
as your Web
address so others
can use the
Internet to view
the files you make
available there.
Thousands of Web
host options are available,
with basic packages
costing under $20 a month,
and more advanced packages costing hundreds of dollars.
The difference in
pricing usually
relates to add-ons
such as list
servers, shopping
carts, database
applications, and
the amount of
storage space and
email boxes you
need. When
choosing a host,
you should first
determine your
near- and
long-term needs,
and then pick a
host that best fulfills
those
needs.
Some hosting
packages are free or
cost very little.
Beware—many of these low
cost alternatives
tag advertisements
onto your email messages or
require you to run
their ads on your site.
They may also
require you to
build your site
using templates
they provide—which
can be a boon to
the beginner—but
this usually means
you have little
control over the look and feel of your site. Any savvy Web surfer
can “sniff” out a boilerplate Web site, and this often
gives a poor first impression of your product or service.
For the ultimate
in control, you
can host your own
Web site.
But unless you are a “techno
guru”
who wants to tackle security issues, backups,
maintaining 24x7
uptime, etc., this
is not a realistic
option.
Web designer & Web programmer
Sometimes people use
“Web designer” and “Web programmer”
interchangeably. For the most part, however, these
are two distinct roles. A
Web designer is typically the
person or team that creates the overall design—the look and feel—of
your Web site, to include colors, font choices, graphics, and the
basic navigation scheme and content layout. A
Web programmer is the
person or team who makes what the designer has envisioned come to life—who actually programs the HTML, JavaScript, and
other code necessary for your site to function. Sometimes a
designer is also a programmer (or at least has some programming
knowledge) and vice versa, but you should
never assume a programmer
and a designer can fill each other’s shoes interchangeably!
Web copywriter
A Web copywriter is a technical and creative writer who is
able to effectively
and concisely communicate key selling points and ideas
in a minimum amount of
space. Being able to
follow the basic rules of English grammar, style and usage is
important, too, and will certainly set you apart from many other
small business Web sites.
As important as design is
to creating first impressions, sloppy writing, grammar or editing,
is a certain way to raise doubts in the minds of your target
audience. As with the distinctions between Web designers and
programmers, a Web designer is not necessarily a Web copywriter, and
vice versa.
Webmaster
A Webmaster is typically the person who holds the “keys” to
your Web site. Once the site is built, he or she routinely
makes updates and troubleshoots glitches with pages, programs, links
or various other
elements. A Webmaster may be a designer, programmer—or
both—and tends to be technically
oriented. A Webmaster will likely be
the individual or a member of the team who helped build
your site. Depending
on his or her level of expertise, the Webmaster may opt to bring in other
creative and technical specialists as enhancements or updates to your site necessitate.
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Fuel for your soul
Consider these words of wisdom:
“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can
find information on it.”
– Samuel Johnson
(1709-1784)
“Knowledge is power.”
– Sir Francis Bacon
(1561-1626)
“It is not a question of how well each process works, the question is how well
they all work together.”
– Lloyd Dobens and Clare Crawford-Mason,
Thinking About Quality
“The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for
understanding, because to understand is to be free.”
– Spinoza
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