Web Site Planner |
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CREATING YOUR WEB SITE |
If you are
a business owner and do not currently have a Web site, sooner or later
you will be asking yourself some (if not all) of these questions: |
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Does my business need a Web site--or not?
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Should I build the site myself--or get
professional help?
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Where should I host my
Web site?
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Should I maintain the site myself--or get
professional help?
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If your answer to the first
question is, "No!"--then you may not need to read any further.
On the other hand, you may want to finish reading the 8web Site Planner so
you'll be armed with the information when the day arrives that your business does need a Web presence.
And that day will come. |
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If your answers
to the second, third and fourth questions are, "I don't know" or "Yes!" then read on
to gather more information that will help you learn how to build, host and
maintain your business Web site. |
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Building, hosting and
maintaining a quality Web site can be time-consuming, costly and
frustrating. If you're already running your own business you may not have
the time required to perform all the necessary tasks yourself. Or perhaps
you can perform some but not all of the tasks. The good news is that
regardless what level of support you are able to provide yourself--all, some
or none--there is help available to you. Professional Web builders
are available to assist you with any Webs site task you may encounter. |
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The 8web Site Planner is
intended to guide you through
what is often termed 'the technology jungle'--to educate and help you make the
right choices for
your individual Web site needs. You may be able to save time, money and frustration by
performing some or all of the Web site tasks yourself. Read through the planning
steps below to help you decide how best to meet your Web site requirements. |
THE STEPS |
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STEP 1. Early Considerations: Plan Before You Build |
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To make your Web building tasks easier, you should have the
following items, or at least have access to them:
1) a reasonably new computer with, as a minimum, these
capabilities:
a) Processor: a Pentium III 500Mhz, or
equivalent
b) Memory: 512MB RAM or more
c) Hard Drive Storage: 80GB or more
2) an Internet Service Provider (ISP) connection
to the Internet with either:
a) (Minimum) a 56K dial-up modem like MSN,
AOL, Earthlink, others
b) (Recommended) a high-speed cable or DSL
modem like Comcast, Road
Runner, Verizon, others)
3) a
Web browser (version 6 or later of Internet Explorer, Foxfire, Netscape, others)
4) an active e-mail account set up on a server other than
the server hosting your Web site (e.g., yourname@yahoo.com). |
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Next, consider which
type of Web site you want: business, professional, personal, event,
etc. The answer here will be helpful next in designing the right 'look and
feel' for your site. |
<> Next,
get a piece of paper and a pencil, and plan your Web site. Here are
some general steps:
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Write your Web site’ mission statement:
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Identify and evaluate your Web site’
intended audience:
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Brainstorm (with others, if possible)
for content:
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Interview others interested in your Web
site:
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Design (overall layout, colors,
graphics, features) with visitors’ needs in mind:
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Formulate your Web site’ folder
hierarchy (sketch diagram):
Regarding your sketch, it's helpful to think of a Web site in hierarchical
terms, i.e., like an organization chart. With your home page at the top,
next draw the three or four (but probably no more than six or seven) main
categories within your site. For example, an About Us page, an Our Products
page, a Contact Us page, etc. Think through the organization of your Web
site and put it down on paper. |
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Next, if you are
planning to maintain the site yourself, consider obtaining a Web page
editor (also called HTML editors) to transfer your ideas into Web format.
Examples include, a basic Web editor like Notepad (found in MS Word
or Office 97/2000/XP), or more advanced Web editing tools like
Microsoft FrontPage,
Macromedia
Dream weaver, or others.
You generally don't have to know HTML (the software coding used in Web sites) to build
basic Web sites using the advanced editors. |
<> Next,
consider whether you prefer to have a 'template' or a 'custom' Web site?
Most HTML editors come with ready-to-use Web templates to save time in site
creation. Unfortunately, most of the popular templates are just
that--popular--and you will see them all over the Internet. If you want your
business Web site to have a unique, professional look to it, you will
probably want to have your site customized to the needs of your business. |
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Next, consider
whether you want to own your own Web site domain name (e.g.,
www.8web.com), or will you 'piggy-back'
off of an existing service provider like Earthlink, AOL, Yahoo or others and have a domain name
that is included within the name of a larger company i.e.,
www.yahoo.com/yourbusinessname.
The answer to this normally depends on how important it is for your business
to have a unique name. |
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Finally,
if the demands of
running your own business, or taking care of other life's priorities, keep you from doing
any or all of the above yourself, you may want to consider hiring a Web
design professional who specializes in this line of work
to help you. |
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STEP 2.
Designing
and Building Your Web Site. |
<> Begin
by using a
Web editing tool,
e.g., like
MS FrontPage 2002.
Start
simple. We recommend you begin by building a simple home page with 2-3 other pages.
Select and follow a Web design
style guide. (Note: for detailed
instructions on how to use your Web editing tool you must see the manual
that comes with the editor.) |
<> In the Web
editing tool, start by entering the text and graphics from your rough Web Site sketch
(see Step 1). |
<> Use any of the many online
Web Site resources available to help you with ideas like:
FrontPage Fanzine,
MS Developer Network,
builder,
and many others. |
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If you have the time
available to do so, and your site does not have to look 'perfect' the first
day it is published for the world to see, you may consider
building the site yourself. On the other hand, if you don't have the time available
to build the site your self--and you do want your site to look as
professional as possible--you may want to consider
hiring a professional Web builder to help you. |
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STEP 3. Add Additional
Web Site Features. |
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There are many types of additional features that may be added to your site.
You should decide whether the feature is something you can add to the site
your self or will you need assistance doing it? Some of the many features,
or Web site add-ons you may consider: |
Graphics: static and/or animated
Forms: for collecting information from
your customers and visitors
Registration with search
engines/directories: 100's of engines
Others:
email, images, pictures, audio, video,
database, interactive, e-commerce
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If the features your
site
requires are beyond your capabilities to create right now (e.g., special logos,
graphics) consider hiring a professional Web builder to design and create
them for you. |
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STEP 4.
Naming Your Web
Site. |
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Until recently, all new Web site Domain Names (DN)
were only registered at one place--a company named Network
Solutions. Recent industry changes now permit a number of other
companies to sell DN services
to customers. Unfortunately, many of the companies now providing DN registration services cannot match the overall service provided by
Network Solutions. This becomes increasingly obvious when you
have to transfer your DN to another registrar. (And this will happen
at some point!) As soon as you
have an idea which DN you wish to register, we highly recommend that you
register it with Network Solutions. |
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Before you go to the Network Solutions Web site to purchase your desired DN, you should consider at least three choices for your Web Site
name. Write them down on paper first. Regrettably, you may find many of your desired DNs are already taken.
But with a little ingenuity--or, 'word-smithing'--you will most likely find a
suitable DN to represent your business. Also, consider which of the many
available DN extensions you want to
use: .com, .org, .tv, .net,
others. |
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Once you are
ready to register your DN, go to the
Network Solutions Web
site (www.networksolutions.net) and follow the instructions provided--the cost is $70 to register your DN for two years. If
you wish to register your DN for longer periods, price breaks are available. Network Solutions will invoice you directly within 30
days. You have now reserved your unique DN--no one else can use that DN.
Network Solutions will 'park' your DN on their servers until you decide
you are ready to build your Web site. |
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STEP 5.
Hosting
Your
Web
Site. |
You have several choices here, too--where do you want
to host your Web Site: |
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On your own computer/server? Remember, viewers can only view your
site over the connection your server uses to connect to the Internet. So, if
you host your Web site on your home or office server, viewers attempting to
see your site may be limited by the speed of that connection. |
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With an Internet
Service Provider (ISP) e.g.,
Comcast,
Verizon,
AOL .. others? Remember, if you
don't mind having a piggy-backed domain name--i.e.,
www.erols.com/yourbusiness--you
might consider this approach. |
<> With a Web Presence
Provider (WPP) e.g.,
Interland.com,
ViaNetWorks.net,
Verio, and
many others? Remember,
you'll get the fullest range of services by hosting with a WPP but it will
cost a little more. |
<> A quick hosting alternatives comparison:
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on Your server: lower cost,
your own domain name, slowest response to Internet, you're the system administrator (SA)
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with an ISP: lower cost,
'piggy-backed' domain name, faster response to Internet, they're the SA
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with a WPP: medium cost, your own
domain name, fastest response to the Internet, they're the SA
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STEP 6.
Maintain Your
Web Site. |
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Your have at least three choices here.
With your Web Site up and running now,
someone will have to post changes,
updates, create new pages, etc.
You can: |
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<> Web sites are
like children--they grow and grow and always have needs! As time
passes, your Web site will have to be updated in some way: changes to
time-sensitive information (sales, prices, etc) or simple to add new
information onto existing pages. If you know you'll be busy running your
business, and you expect reasonable changes to the site over time, it may be
cost-effective to hire a professional to provide you with content management
support...... |
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Summary.
The following table is intended to be a guide only. |
STEP |
TIME RANGE1 |
COST RANGE2 |
Step
1.
Considerations |
1 to 10 Hours |
N/A |
Step
2. Build Basic Site |
4
Hours to 1 Week |
$0 to $2000 |
Step
3. Advanced Features |
4
Hours to 1 Week |
$0 to $20,000 |
Step
4. Domain Registration |
1
Hour |
$35/Year
($70; min 2 yrs req'd) |
Step
5. Site Hosting |
1 to 4
Hours |
$6-$250/Month
(plus install fees $0-$250) |
Step
6. Site
Maintenance: |
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System/Network |
4 to 16
Hours/Month |
$0-$250/Month |
Content
Mgmt |
4 to 16
Hours/Month |
$0-$250/Month |
Totals: |
15 to 70 Hours |
$35-$435/Month
(Plus Step 2/3 fees up to $5500) |
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Table Notes: |
1
Estimated time it could take you--if you are a willing and knowledgeable person--to perform the individual steps
involved in building a
Web site. Actual times will vary
according to pre-existing Web site development skill level, experience,
training, available time, and other
intangible factors. |
2
Based on 8web samplings of Web site design and install businesses
in Dec 2006. Depending
on geographical area, quality of work, type of Web site, and other imprecise
factors, you can
reasonably expect to pay somewhere within the cost ranges shown for the particular service.
This estimate does not include the cost of your time. |
And Finally! Thats it--now you
have some idea of what's involved in setting up a Web site! Building, hosting and maintaining a Web site can be a lot of work. You can choose to perform some of the steps
yourself and reduce costs. Whether you choose to build the Web site yourself or hire out some,
or all, of the site building steps to a professional firm depends on many circumstances. Building a
Web site is a creative process and can be a very satisfying
experience. You are well advised to consider building the Web site yourself if at all
possible. Use the
8web
Site Planner to help you decide how you want to
proceed. If you have any questions about the
8web
Site Planner, or if you think
we can be of assistance to you with any of the site building steps, please
contact
us. Good luck with your Web site! |
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