web notes - a blog

Graphic designer/Web designer/Designer
Builds a visual interface – an image
Skills
Adobe PhotoShop
Adobe Illustrator
Art / color / design
User interface knowledge

Web developer
Usually converts the comp or image into XHTML/HTML/CSS
Skills
XHTML
HTML
CSS
Able to prepare images for the web
Able to use javascript to support rich interfaces

Internet/LAMP engineer
Usually makes the site work – provides all backend support to get the HTML from the server to the browser
Skills
HTML/CSS – basic competence
LAMP – understanding of the whole stack
Strong logic
Able to install a commercial application and make it run
Able to help a developer customize an application

DBA
No explanation needed

Content Editor
Responsible for posting content
Skills
Strong written communication
Should be able to associate images with text
Able to connect content with links, reusing it efficiently

SEO
Responsible for setting up a site to get the best possible search engine positioning
Skills
Able to follow the instructions at Google/Yahoo, etc
Should be able to handle basic Linux commands
Advise content editor

Server admin
No further explanation needed

Site admin
Handles issues like setting up email accounts, supporting clients

Search Engine Optimization

If you are planning to rely on search engines to deliver the bulk of your site visitors, you should first learn about how search engines help people find web resources. You may want to reevaluate your strategy.

As far as I know, there is no absolute, sure fire way to gain high ranking in search engines without purchasing a sponsored link. My recommendation is to focus on building a good site that meets your business objectives.

Resources:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/search/

If you are an optimist, with a sense of humor, you can purchase a Site Flag …

http://site-flags.wirehopper.com/

:)

A web site is a technical service.

It isn’t a product.

It requires some technical skill.

It can be simple or complex, big or small, busy or idle, pretty or bland, functional or frivolous.

It can be a technical or artistic success and a business failure, or a business success but a technical/artistic disaster.

So - before you start working on a site, ask yourself these questions:

• What am I trying to do with this site?
• Who am I trying reach?
• What do I want to tell these people or allow them to do?
• How can I measure the success of my site?
• How much money do I have?
• How am I going to maintain the site?
• How much do I want to spend maintaining the site?
• How long will this site last?
• How much do I want to spend on hosting?
• Can I host it in my office?
• Do I want to hire a person to run my site or outsource it?
• Will I use email?
• Who will help me when I have problems?
• Are there security issues I should be aware of?
• Do I need to process credit cards?
• Are there laws that must be observed?
• Can I send out newsletters?

There are alot of questions. Get answers from several people. Decide which ones you like best. Listen, and ask more questions.

Good luck.

Here are two lines of a very poorly coded web page:

<tr>
   <td><input style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 1px solid; WIDTH: 80px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #666666 1px solid; HEIGHT: 18px" /></td>
   <td><input style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 1px solid; WIDTH: 80px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #666666 1px solid; HEIGHT: 18px" />&nbsp;<img height="14" alt="" width="7" border="0" src="/ccData/CommonFiles/Image/arrow_button.gif" /></td>

The problem is evident in the style tags. These tags allow you to describe how that piece of the page should look. First - this is hard to read. Even if it wasn’t in a blog - the long lines are difficult to decode. The BORDER descriptions are identical and they are in there four times (RIGHT, TOP, LEFT, BOTTOM). The dimensions are hard-coded (18px). One of these table elements is blank - it isn’t doing anything. The alt tag is blank. This would make it more difficult for a visually impaired person to understand the page.

Better code:

	<div class="element">
		<label for="sUsername">Username</label>
		<input type="text" name="sUsername" id="sUsername" 
			dojoType="dijit.form.ValidationTextBox"
			required="true"
			trim="true" 
			promptMessage="Enter Username"
		/>
	</div>

This code is easier to understand. The design is handled with CSS, in fact it is transparent. On this page, the HTML would not have to change in order to change the appearance, only the CSS would change.

Granted, this is a comparison of two different types of HTML - one is two cells of a table, the other is a prompt for a username using dojo validation. However, the underlying truth is that if you do a view source and see long, unintelligible lines of code, with lots of style=, you are probably viewing code written by someone with limited technical skill.

Other dead giveaways:

class="one two three four five six seven eight nine ten” - means the author has either made the design too complex or really doesn’t know what they are doing.

<br /> - this is nice XHMTL code. If every
tag has the space and trailing slash, the line breaks were done right.

font="arial” - Author does not understand CSS well.

More help:
http://validator.w3.org/ - Checks a page
http://websiteoptimization.com/ - An excellent resource

Every business plan should address the web, but not every business should have a web site.

Examples:
You have a small local service business with a well-established customer base. You are very profitable. Maybe you’re an orthodontist, and you have a steady stream of clients from the local dentists. You really stand to gain very little from a website, or even an ad in the phone book. Simply focus on the services that have made you successful.

You sell stuff. Some good stuff, some not so good stuff. Sometimes, you have good months and you make alot of money, other times, you don’t. The web probably won’t help you stabilize the sales, but you may want to consider eBay or Amazon as a sales channel. Visit those sites and read the materials - they are excellent.

You have a strong mail order business, but your web sales are very poor. This is probably an indication that you should update the web
sales channel.

You’re passionate about something and want to share that passion with people, as well as let them participate. Create a social network - consider services like http://ning.com, or a Yahoo group, or other sites that allow you to create a community without any help.

You want to inform people about a particular topic, more as a resource than an opportunity for interaction. Try a blog - like https://www.blogger.com/ or any of the other free blogging services.