1	What Makes a Good Website? Shauna Seaman © 2006 ShowPage, Inc.
2	Networking Time Introduce yourself to at least 3 people. Share your name, company info and Your favorite website and why or A website that you visit frequently and why
3	Why have a website? Solve customer problems Customers want/need: Information To purchase or donate To be entertained Make sure you know your customers (teenagers vs. investors vs. teachers) Customers can be internal or external Presence on the web
4	Who are you? Website should clearly define your products and or services. Home page should have this info, most common entry point to a website.
5	How do I find it? Domain Name - Network Solutions Like a phone number, points to website Memorable and relate to business Yearly cost $10-$20/year Multiple domain names can point to one website Extensions reflect the business type .com = commercial .mil = military .edu = education .org = organization .biz = business .net = network provider .gov = government .us = United States
6	How do I find it? (cont.) Web Server/Host (ISP) – place that hosts the website Monthly (starting at $10/mo. +) or yearly cost
7	What does it look like? Good Themes – Werner Enterprises Constant theme/look throughout. You can easily tell you’re on the same site. Background colors and text colors compliment each other. (Easiest to read is black text on a white background.) Can you read this text? Each page has a focal point Bad Themes – Hayden Video Weddings Backgrounds that interfere with text Too many focal points
8	Navigation First time website visitors are ignorant, make it easy to find things. Repeat visitors want quick and easy ways to access the information. Good Navigation - Caldrea Buttons, bars, or text Consistent Buy Points – find any information within 3 clicks
9	Navigation Bad Navigation Horizontally scrolling Can’t get back home Difficult to locate information (Contact us, hours, etc.) Can’t exit the website
10	Graphics and Photos Visual medium Good Graphics and Photos Relate to business Appropriate size Dimensions of image File size If a thumbnail image, has link to larger image - Pro Track and Tennis White space - The Search Professionals
11	Graphics and Photos Bad Graphics and Photos Large images that load slowly Fuzzy, too large or too small - Home Listing Animations that run continuously or blinking items
12	Links Good Links Clearly define where you are going Show differently if visited – Yahoo! Visibly show that they’re a link (underlined, different color) Link color relates to site color scheme Bad Links Broken links
13	Text Good Text Most important info. at the top. Should flow as people read, left to right, top to bottom. Appropriate size Easy to read – text color and background color Relevant Bad Text – Rent to Own Real Estate Too wordy Requires vertical or horizontal scrolling to read all of text Uses too many different font types and styles on a page Uses special fonts that aren’t on all computers
14	How much does it cost? Varies Things to consider: Professionalism of site Is there a shopping cart Is there a database pulling information in the background - HR Systems Static vs. Dynamic sites Static site will be created once and done Dynamic site is continually changing, costs more and has a database
15	How much does it cost? Tips to minimize the cost Have ideas of what you want included, think it through Avoid making major changes as the site is being developed Have graphic images and photos Sites can be done over time. Start with a presence, and later add more information (forms, online sign-ups, database info, etc.) Flash is flashy, but costly. It may or may not convey the message you want. – Casiology
16	Practice Break into groups of 4-5 people. Critique the websites for good and needs improvement elements.
17	Websites Atlantic Awning Casiology AgStar Financial Services Financial Services and Banking Benchmark Association