Specifications
Back in 1985, legendary music producer
Quincy Jones invited the day’s most popu-
lar singers to record “We Are the World,”
a single for charity. In his invitation, he
asked the musicians to “check your egos at
the door.” Sage advice, and something you
should keep in mind as you gather with
the editors, producers, designers, devel-
opers, and business folks who are creating
or redesigning your business’s Web site.
The process of designing or rework-
ing a Web site can be a long one, and it
shouldn’t be rushed. Tackling these crite-
ria before and during the site’s develop-
ment will save you time and help keep you
from making costly mistakes.
Defi ne Your Goals
There are user goals and then there
are business goals. User goals are often
defi ned by your content, what kind of peo-
ple you want to attract to your site, and the
kind of experience you want to deliver for
them. Business goals, well, they’re often
about making money. As much as you can,
define the expectations for both these
areas up front.
Identify Your Audience
You may know your site and its content
better than anyone—and you should—
but, remember, you’re likely not the target
audience. Identifying the user, or site visi-
tor, should be one of the first things that
you do. One way to do this is by develop-
ing personas for the types of visitors you
have and want to attract. Give them names
and some personality traits. Defi ne their
Internet habits (what they do online, how
they might get to your site, how much
experience they have navigating Web
sites, how they may use your site . . . you
get the picture).
As you develop the site, click around
the preview pages and ask yourself if you’re
satisfying the needs of those personas.
Develop a Project Plan
If possible, all parties should know what’s
going on with the project. Most important,
a project plan lets the key players know
INTERNET DEVELOPMENT
Build a Better Web Site
Getting site visitors is only half the battle. By Vicki B. Jacobson
SOLUTIONS BUSINESS
110 PC MAGAZINE NOVBEMBER 6, 2007
HOW’S IT DOING? Getting site visitors is only half the battle. You want them to stick
around and fi nd not only what they need but also what you want them to fi nd. One
tool we use at PCMag.com is called SiteCatalyst. It tells us how many times each
link on a page has been clicked—the darker the red, the more clicks—which helps us
determine how effective the page layout is.
Employ the same consistency for your
search box. Page elements, too, should be
as consistent as possible. Disorganized,
cluttered pages will only frustrate visitors.
Make Pages Usable
Yes, your home page is important. It’s the
front door to your site, but it’s not the only
way people enter. Visitors will often fi nd
their way to your site via a search engine.
That means that individual pages are just
as important as your home page. Each
page should be a destination, with easy
access to related content as well as to the
rest of the site.
Defi ne Success
Is it all about money? Or are you interested
in delivering a good user experience?
Maybe it’s both. Set goals. These may
include fast page-load times as well as the
expected number of page views, unique
visitors, and pages viewed per visit.
It’s simple, really. Get them there. Keep
them there. Everyone’s happy.
Q
the schedule for “deliverables” (deadlines
for design, usability testing, templates,
development, beta testing, launch dates,
and so on).
Design and Development
Design is just as much about the organiza-
tion of content as it is about color schemes,
font sizes, and compelling graphics. Every-
one will have an opinion about what should
be included on your main pages and on
individual article pages. And you’ll be
tempted to integrate all of that new technol-
ogy you’ve been hearing about. Start with
everything but the kitchen sink, prioritize
elements, and then remove the extraneous.
Consistency is the name of the game
here, and nowhere is this more important
than with your site navigation. Navigation
bars need to stay in the same place—typi-
cally at the top or left—and look identical
regardless of which page a visitor is on.
Keep it tight, too—provide all the navi-
gation buttons a visitor should need, no
fewer and certainly no more.