Developing

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Developing Maintaining Your Own Website
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Introduction

• Every day it becomes clearer that the Net is
  taking its place alongside the other great
  transformational technologies that first
  challenged, and then fundamentally changed, the
  way things are done in the world.
• - Louis Gerstner, Chairman CEO of IBM

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Question

• How do you decide whether to create a business
  website?

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Question

• How do you decide whether to create a business
  website?

Do your competitors have websites?
Where are your customers located?
What questions are commonly asked?
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What well cover

• Website development
• Domain names
• Content
• Design
• Building
• Hosting

• Website maintenance
• Monitoring use
• Updating

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Website Development

• Requires a plan
• Takes time
• Will cost money
• Hire help or professional assistance if needed

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Domain Names

• Domain name is your internet address/identity
• Typically the business name
• Ex. Mercer Vu Farms www.mercervufarms.com
• Can be a product name
• Ex. Mountain Dew product of PepsiCo, Inc
  www.mountaindew.com

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Domain Names

• Two parts
• Label
• Extension
• Mercervufarm.com
• Possible extensions
• .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .info, .biz

• Domain Name Registrars
• The popular registrars
• www.godaddy.com
• www.easydns.com
• www.networksolutions.com

label
extension
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Domain Names

• Two options
• Stand alone website
• Ex. Yourbusinessname.com
• Your website is part of a larger website
• Ex. Earthlink.com/yourbusinessname
• Can register a domain name without creating a
  website

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Website Content

• Only include pertinent information
• Get input feedback from people familiar with
  your business
• Start simple
• Can always add content and features

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Question

• What content should a businesss website include?

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Website Content

• Content Musts
• Business name
• Contact information
• Address
• Phone number
• Fax number
• Email address
• Business description
• Product descriptions and/or photos
• Service descriptions

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Website Content

• Possible content
• Company logo
• Company vision and/or mission statement
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Purchasing Information
• Special project info
• Calendar of events
• Product use ideas/suggestions
• Forms/links for sending email

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Website Content

• Content must be accurate, clear, and explicit
• Dont assume people know what you mean or
  understand what youre telling them
• Must abide by information presented on the
  website
• Updating is essential when things change
• Ex. Product prices increase

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Website Design

• Develop content before designing the site
• People form instant opinions
• Designs should
• Be eye-catching, appealing, not too busy
• Encourage people to stay explore
• Clean Professional
• Use flow charts or storyboards

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Website Design

• Check out other websites for design elements that
  you do and dont like.
• www.webpagesthatsuck.com

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Building the Website

• Two choices
• You
• Saves money
• Takes time away from other activities
• May take longer depending on ability/knowledge
• Lose potential sales
• Someone else
• May be costly
• Already possesses the skills/knowledge
• Website can be finished more quickly

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Website Hosting

• Websites need a home called a server
• Internal or External hosting
• Internal
• You house and maintain the server
• Typically more expensive
• Requires experienced technical knowledge
• External
• Someone else owns and maintains the server
• Multiple websites on the same server
• Most internet service providers (ISPs) offer
  hosting services. Also local hosting businesses.

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Website Hosting

• Hosting Service Considerations
• Support for the software and programming language
  used to design your website
• Web space or storage space needed
• Bandwidth speed and amount of data you can
  transmit
• Back-up services
• Other software offered
• Shopping carts, email, forums, blogs, etc.

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Brief Review

• Steps to Build a Website
• Register a domain name
• Develop content
• Develop a design
• Build the site
• Find someplace to host the site

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Website Maintenance

• Need to keep your website up to date and error
  free
• You can do this yourself or hire it to be done
• People stop visiting websites with incorrect, out
  of date, or old information

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Monitoring Use

• Monitoring methods
• Logs
• Visits
• Hits
• Cookies
• Utilize website monitoring software
• Provided by hosting services
• Purchase your own

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Monitoring Use

• Use information from web monitoring to decide on
  necessary updates
• Is the website being found?
• What are you best sources of traffic?
• Are people leaving quickly?
• No hits on sub-pages

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Question

• How do you know when and what to update?

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Updating a website

• How do you know when and what to update?
• Dependent on content
• New, Seasonal products?
• Monthly newsletter?
• Get feedback from visitors
• Feedback forms
• Email

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Section Wrap-Up

• Website development takes time
• Process involved
• Register a domain name
• Develop content
• Develop design
• Build the site
• Find hosting
• Regularly monitor use
• Maintain and update as needed
• Get assistance!