So you want to become a webmaster, do you? You've been surfing quite a
bit, perhaps make a homepage or two, and now you've got the bug. Also,
perhaps people have been telling you how much money you could make from
the internet ...
Cool. But being a webmaster means more than just using Frontpage and
slapping up a site. No, it means you are devoted to your task, it means
making your site meet it's primary goals.
What are those?
- Your site must have good content. Whatever it's about, whether it be
Star Trek or pornography, you must offer something that people want to
see or read.
- If your site is commercial, you have to remember that the primary
goal is to SELL something. If your site is not commercial, then I
presume you are trying to SAY something. Don't forget this.
That's it. You've got to offer something, and you've got to sell or
communicate something. Those are your goals.
How is that accomplished?
- You must offer your visitors a reason to stay on your site. Remember
how easy it is to hit the back key and keep in mind how many other sites
there are.
- You must offer a reason to come back to the site. The web is
constantly changing and so must your site. Static sites will die.
- You must
advertise it and promote it constantly using all means available to
you. Use Metatags, the description and title
tags effectively.
- The site must load quickly. Remember that the majority of your
visitors will be on a dialup line.
- You must include good navigation.
- Remember that most search engines will spider ALL pages on your
site, so visitors can wind up anywhere. Plan your
navigation accordingly.
-
Graphics are cool, but always keep in mind that unless your site is
artistic they are not the primary reason your site is visited. Don't
sacrifice load time for graphics.
- It's a good idea to stay away from any exotic plug-ins. These are
just reasons for people to surf elsewhere.
- Remember Internet Explorer is not the only browser. It may not be
possible to make your site work perfectly in all browsers, but it should
at least look okay.
- Generally, I follow the KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid.
- Test your links. Try and test them at least every couple of months.
- Give your visitors a way to communicate with you.
An email address is best. And please, respond to them quickly.
- Keep an eye on your statistics. You
need to know which pages are being visited, how people are surfing
through the site and how they are getting there.
- Keep your site
legal.
Remember the
copyright laws, and don't
steal
bandwidth.
- Learn several HTML editors. Frontpage
2000 is okay, Dreamweaver is better,
and simple Notepad (yes, I said Notepad) is often good enough.
And please
- No more of the 900 number one page piece of junk sites. There are
probably hundreds of thousands of these and we don't need anymore.
- No brochure sites please.
- And everyone is so tired of multi-level marketing schemes,
pay-to-surf or pay-to-whatever programs and all that other junk. No more
...
- Avoid ActiveX like the plague.
- Avoid Java menus.
- If you must make a pornographic site, use the various ratings
systems and take precautions to keep out children.
Is there a "right way to do a site"? One webmaster recently gave a new
webmaster the following advice:
You should do it the way that lets you have the most fun, and makes
you happiest. All of our first sites, if we could redo them, we
would do differently now. But we had fun doing them, and that is
what is important. That is how you learn.
Of course, this applies to sites which are created for personal
reasons. For a business site of any kind your primary motivation should be
simple - get your visitors to your site, get them to buy something, and
get them to come back. That's about it.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.
