Datasheet

Part I: Create a Web Page Today

Web-site information that is obviously out of date is one of the quickest ways

to leave a bad impression of you or your organization or company; it steers

visitors right away from your Web site. For business, an out-of-date site can

cost you customers.

Not only do you want to update the Web site, but you also want to avoid

using “Under Construction” signs and otherwise apologizing for things that

aren’t there yet. Everything on the Web is under construction, which is half

the fun of using the Web and creating pages for it in the first place. You get

only one chance to make a first impression, and an “Under Construction”

sign doesn’t count in your favor.

Decide how you define success

Before you design and create your Web page, define what you believe can

make it a success. For an initial effort, simply putting up something on the

Web that clearly conveys basic information is probably enough. You may just

need an online reference point for people who need to get in touch with you

by phone or by mail, or want to know a bit more about you or your business.

For follow-up work, get more specific. Are you trying to reach a certain

number of people or a certain type of people? Will measuring page views —

the number of times that people look at one page from your site — be

enough, or do you need some other measure of response, such as having site

visitors send e-mail or call an 800 number? Do you want to create a cutting-

edge site full of bell-and-whistle features like fancy graphics and animation —

and if so, are you willing to invest the time and money to make this site

happen? Talk to people who do advertising and marketing in the real world,

as well as to people who work on the Web; get a sense of what goals they set

and how they measure success in meeting their goals.

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