Web Design 101 John Schuster, Yourlink Web Services Inc.

What is web design? Web design is the arrangement of content on a web site that is available for users to download and interact with via the World Wide Web.

Web design advantages Traditional printing methods are more expensive Patrons are using your web site more. Communicate the latest events & services directly to the people who are most interested

Domain names Domain names are available for registration for 1 year or more Cost is usually $9-16/year 1and1.com, godaddy, and yahoo are accredited registrars for top level domains TLDs:.com,.us,.net,.org,.info,.name,.mobi,.biz,.tv,.cc and.ws

Choosing a domain name Short and easy to remember Easy to give to someone over the phone May contain keywords

Hosting Hosting is placing files on a web server Usually comes with the domain name. You can purchase hosting and domain names from the same company or different ones. Hosting usually costs between $60- $120/year

Web page elements Clearly Stated Purpose Navigation Contact Information Call to action

How will you be able to measure the success of the web site design? You receive feedback directly from the web site users Customers call you after reading information from your web site. Traffic statistics are tracked and analyzed for their ROI

Which visitors are most important Current customers New customers Job seekers Press

What are the strengths/weaknesses of your websites? Time Budget Technology

Common stumbling points Starting with too many pages Web site is too difficult to update Web site is difficult to find Not having a clear navigation

Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design Bad Search PDF Files for Online Reading Not Changing the Color of Visited Links Non-Scannable Text Font Size Too Small Page Titles with Low Search Engine Visibility Anything That Looks Like an Advertisement Violating Design Conventions Opening New Browser Windows Not Answering Users' Questions

On Site Optimization The visitor should learn in 10 seconds. Who is the web site for? What the web site can do for me? When is it available? Where is it located? Why is it important? How can I get started now?

Web page elements

chipublib.org

Web Content Home About Products/Services Events/Calendar Location/Directions FAQ’s Testimonials News/Press Contact

Additional Web Content Jobs/Employment Privacy Statement Terms & Conditions Help/Support Links Site map

Web Services news letter Blog Message board Calendar Ecommerce shopping cart

Multimedia Audio Video Flash animation Photo galleries

Meta Information Page Title Page Description Keywords Categories Tags

Web Page Layout

Content Index Pages

Web Design Software Adobe Dreamweaver HTML Editor Adobe Flash Vector Graphics & Animation Adobe Fireworks Raster Graphics Adobe Photoshop Photo Optimization Adobe Acrobat PDF creation Microsoft Office Documents CuteFtp FTP File Transfers Firefox Web Browser (web developer tools, firebug installed) SnagIt Screen capture HTtrack Saves websites as HTML AVS Video Converter Saves & Converts video files

3 rd Party Web Services Google apps , calendar, & document sharing, content management Youtube video sharing flickr photo sharing Blogger/Wordpress blog Twitter messaging Istock purchase stock photos & clipart Slideshare upload & share PowerPoint presentations and documents ning create social networks Office live documents Feed burner RSS Syndication Aweber Newsletter Paypal payment processor Basecamp project management