For Commercial Sites

If your site is a commercial site, most of the people who visit it will be there to get some sort of information. They won't be there for "a total web experience," or to be entertained, or for the thrill of visiting a "killer web site."

They'll want to know things like: 

"What models are available and what do they cost?"

"What are the features of your products and services?"

"How can I contact your company?"

"Where can I buy your products?"

"Do you have any new products or services?"

"How can I get the widget I bought from your company to work properly?"

"I want to see financial reports and other info."

"Do you have any employment opportunities?" 

A commercial web site will become an important adjunct to your company and, in some cases, it will be the main way in which your customers and others interact with you in the future.

When the web was young, many companies wanted to "establish a web presence" so they turned to graphic arts shops, advertising agencies, and the new crop of web design firms that were hanging out their shingles. Although these firms had a good background in graphic arts, most had little experience in the many aspects of creating web sites. They over-emphasized the graphics aspect and tried to entertain in the same way as print ads or TV commercials.

However, an effective web site needs a lot more than this. It should start with a requirements definition that evaluates the real needs of the company and how they can best be served through the web. This should be followed by a careful design and planning stage. The next phase is to build and test the site.

But, unlike a print ad or a TV commercial, a web site needs constant updating and maintenance to evolve and stay current. A lot of sites are designed in a way that made this difficult. You also have to consider the operations aspects of the site, such as guaranteeing response time and availability.

Few recognized the need for web site statistics, so they didn't include them in the original plan, or design them into the site so they would give effective information.

If your company is going to go to the trouble, effort, and expense of building a corporate web site, you should consider engaging the services of a systems architect before you contact the graphics companies or hire those Java programmers. An architect will plan your site as a system designed to meet your corporate goals, rather than just a bunch of interconnected HTML pages.

But what if you have a small company, like a plumber or an electrician, and most of your business is done locally? In this case, you might get more for your money by investing in a bigger ad in the Yellow pages.