What is a Web Site?

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.