Setting Up Your Small Business Web site

A word of caution here; creating a Web site is programming. And like most programming projects that seem quick and easy at first, a Web site can suddenly become a full-time job. So if your company is planning to implement a grand scheme on the Web, we suggest that you get professionals involved right from the start. If your goals are more modest, you can probably go it alone.

Setting a presence

Your Web hosting company may offer online programs for setting up a Web site. If this is your first foray into Web design, these kinds of programs offer a quick and easy way to start. Most allow you to select from a series of templates and color schemes, and add pages that are already set up for specific purposes. 1and1.com's WebsiteCreator is surprisingly flexible and easy to use, and the basic version is free to use with 1and1.com hosted sites. I was able to build a 5-page site using WebsiteCreator's template approach in about 10 minutes.

Click for full screen.

WebsiteCreator offers over 100 templates, each with a variety of colors, type styles and images.

Another option is to use a simplified Web site editor to create your own site. Most popular Web editors like Microsoft FrontPage, Adobe GoLive, Macromedia Dreamweaver, NetObjects Fusion, and many others come with templates that can be customized to meet your needs. These applications offer much more flexibility than the online Web design programs, and are used by professional developers. If you plan to eventually hand over the development and maintenance of your site to a professional, your best choice is to buy one of these packages and use it as your design tool right from the start.

But before you start using the software, make some basic decisions about the Web site. The graphic appeal is important, but in the end, if your site visitors don't immediately understand what your site is trying to convey, they will leave. Here's a checklist of the most basic decisions you need to make.

What is the purpose of the site?

  Brochure

  eCommerce

  Information source

The purpose of your site will help determine what pages are included in your design. For example, a brochure site will not typically include a shopping cart that is a requirement for an eCommerce site.

What should the visitor see first?

  Welcome message

  Company description

  Product list

What kind of interactivity do you want to provide?

  Email forms

  Shopping cart

  Live chat

  Surveys

Interactivity is a key element to communicating with your visitors. The kind of interactivity you offer should enable the purpose of your site. Live chat applications may help your visitors make purchasing decisions when using your shopping cart. Surveys might be appropriate for brochure sites by inviting your visitors to express their opinions and leave their contact information.

Once you've made these initial basic decisions, take out a pad of paper (yes... actual paper and pen) and create one page for each Web page you intend to create. Don't worry about design, layout, or even detailed content. Just develop the set of pages that you can start with. You'll be surprised how many pages you have even from the start.

Give each page a name, and write which page(s) should be accessible directly from that page. This will help you design your site's navigation.

Here are some of the pages you may want to include:

"Must Have" pages:

  Introduction

This is typically the "Home" page that is the first page the visitor sees. It usually has some introductory information about the site and what the visitor can expect to find.

  About Us

The About Us page can list people, companies, products, and other information about the organization.

  Contact Us

Just what it says... email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses, physical addresses, Instant Message contact information, fax numbers, and even links to mapping services like Yahoo! Maps or Mapquest.

Optional pages:

These pages should be the detail of your site and contain the specifics.

  Products

  Shopping cart

  Articles

  Blog

  Photos

  Index

  Document list and documents

  Search

  Other pages based on your site's purpose

When it starts to get confusing, stop. Keep your first site simple. If you're confused, your site visitors are likely to be confused as well, and they will leave your site.

Once you have the basics of your new site on paper and are happy with the structure it's time to start the software.

Design

The graphical design of your site is important (although not as important as its content--read on). When you have your Web software running, browse its library of sample designs. Most design software will allow you to change your mind after you've selected a basic design without losing the content and structure you've developed. Check the software package you're using to be sure that's the case, and then select the most likely example as your starting point.

With your paper web site in front of you, create each of the pages using the software. Don't worry about the content yet. At this point you should be concerned with the overall look of the site. Things like colors, fonts, whether the menus are at the top or along the side, what images should be shown and where. The software will automatically set up the design based on which design you select.

Once you have the blank pages complete, have the software generate a test site and try the navigation functions that the software has built for you. Be sure you have enabled your software's automated navigation functions so it will create your menus for you. Make any revisions necessary to make your site easy to navigate and understand.

Navigation

Navigation = Menus. Most web design applications automatically create menus based on the pages you create. Experiment with the options and learn what your software offers. Just as with creating the pages for your site, if you're confused with the layout, your visitors will be confused too. Find a way to simplify the navigation by linking pages in a logical sequence.

Content

Content is perhaps the most difficult area of web design. It isn't difficult from a programming or graphics design point of view. The difficulty is in creating the right message, which isn't programming at all; it's communication.

If your company has a corporate communications, advertising, public relations, or other department that creates marketing or advertising materials, check with them for things that have already been created for the company. It's often easy and appropriate to use a few paragraphs from a company brochure, product literature, or sales letter as content for the new site.

Here are some guidelines for good content.

  Keep each page short. The visitor should not need to scroll more than one screen down.

  In keeping with the first tip, keep the text brief. Make your point in three paragraphs at most.

  Use graphics on the page to break it up. Pages that contain nothing but text are boring.

  Make a point on each page. Each page should have a purpose and conclusion. The visitor should feel they know something new when they finish reading the page.

  Provide a logical progression. Link your pages so the visitor knows what to expect and help them get there.

Publish it

Proof read every part of your new site, including the page names, the menu items, and of course, the text. Have at least two other people read through it as well. When you are sure everything is exactly the way you want it, use the software's publishing function to upload the site to your Web host.

Once the site is published, browse to the site and test it yourself. Click every link to be sure they all work, check every image to be sure each is active, and read every word one more time. Make any changes or corrections as quickly as you can, because the hoards of Internet visitors are about to descend on your site...you hope.