It has become very easy to have a website nowadays. All you need is software and a host. For the former, practically all software has the capability of converting your work into a web page. There is also software specifically designed for this purpose, which saves your work straight on a web page. As for hosting, this has become common and easy to obtain, unless you need a huge amount of memory or a commercial site.
Most ISPs offer limited hosting with their accounts, the limits being space and content. Free hosting is also available from various foreign companies, such as Yahoo's Geo Cities, but there is still a price to pay; adverts will appear on your web page.
There are millions of websites out there, all seeking attention. Where does your website fit in? Who will notice it? And if anybody does, will they visit again?
There are basic concepts one should keep in mind to have a successful web presence.
A web site, like all other media, needs to have a sense of direction. It cannot purport to satisfy everyone in everything. It should aim at a target audience and its design and everything else should be tailor-made to capture and keep that audience. No website can be appealing if it contains unnecessary information. Although the inverse is also true, there should not be a dearth of information.
Ease of navigation can make or break a website. Most people find it frustrating to be unable to find a piece of information they know should be somewhere but cannot find it. It is good practice to have the main menu or navigation bar appear on all pages of the site. That way it's easy to get back to where you started. It is extremely easy to get lost in some sites.
Images help to pep up the page. But one needs to be careful, as these can also slow downloads. A browser can only show images having a resolution of about 92dpi (dots per inch), so it's useless to have hi-resolution pictures that do not add anything to the visuals, but will only slow the download. If you want to show off your images, insert thumbnails and create a link to the larger pictures. One must also not forget that some people inhibit image download, so make sure you have '/alternate/' text.
While a very useful tool if used judiciously, Flash content can be a page killer. It is a designer's pet, but it can distract the viewer from the page contents. There are sites that are made up entirely of flash and are veritable works of art but the message is lost entirely, and some even leave you wondering what it's all about. Flash also requires that the viewer has a player installed. Another disadvantage is that it is invisible to search engines.
Some sites do not give you the date/s of their last update/s. You get your information, but you don't know if it's this month's or even this year's.
Text and background are also crucial. It doesn't have to be black on white, but there should be two contrasting colours. Textured backgrounds don't help.
If the page is long, then it might be a good idea to have a non-white background since this could be tiring on the eyes. I recommend a pastel colour with black text. Or if you want to use coloured background on shorter pages, then you may opt for a dark background with white or a pastel colour text. Whatever you do, don't use very vivid colours.
Unless it is intended for a closed group of friends and relations, most people first visit a site because they find it on a search engine or a web directory. So try and register your site with as many of these as you can. Most of them, including Google and Yahoo, do it for free provided you meet certain criteria. You can also optimise your site for search engines, but that's a different story.
Mr Mulè Stagno is ICT manager at Business Marketing Services Ltd and Allied Consultants Ltd.
ams@bms.com.mt