Microsoft offers a free package that allows Word users to build a Web site from their word processing software package. Check out their web site for Internet Assistant for Word (http://www.mircrosoft.com). Adobe has a package called PageMill 2.0, using click-and-drag commands that create web pages. Less than $100, it has basics needed to create a site. Just call 800-833-6687. Corel offers a Web Graphic Suite of products. More expensive, but you can get more features. Corel’s number is 800-772-6735.

New packages become available frequently. Check out computer software catalogs and local stores for what’s out there.

Hiring a Designer. Companies specializing in Web site design are abundant. And new companies are springing up all time. Of course, it can cost up to $500.00 to develop a modest site. And about $30.00 per hour for updating site. You will still need Internet Service Provider to host your site.

Updating your site. The more often your site is updated, more successful it will tend to be. Active sites are updated weekly, maybe even more frequently. If you want your Web site to be more than a billboard, it could require several hours per week to keep site current. It all depends on types of products and services you provide.

Make sure your Web Site is “linked” to other similar industry sites, and professional associations.

© 2005 - Heidi Richards

Make your website easy to look at and read. I find dark background tend to be more difficult to read than do pale backgrounds. The overall look of your site should be clean and professional. When we were first creating Women’s ECommerce Association, International we did everything in-house. Not being truly adept at HTML coding we thought we could just use a simple program to create a professional site. It was okay, but one we now have is so much better. Why? Because we hired a professional. You can create a website with a good template program. We are using ECommerce Templates to create our new look for WUN Publications. It is simple to use and relatively inexpensive.

When it comes to graphics, be conservative. Sites that are laden with graphics and flash tend to take longer to load. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to do so, you will loose many visitors and potential buyers. If you must use graphics, make sure files sizes used have been reduced as much as your image editing/compression software will allow.

View your site using as many different browsers as possible. In addition to Internet Explorer and Netscape, there is Opera, Mozilla, Lynx and those are just ones that run on Microsoft Windows. WebMonkey has a chart of those supported by Macintosh, Unix/Linux and others. Also, many people will surf with their browser’s graphics switched off. Make sure you know what your site looks like without graphics and that it is still easy for visitors to surf.

One last thought Make sure all your important information is above fold. If you know that visitors are looking for something specific and you make them scroll down to find it, chances are they won’t.

© 2005 - Heidi Richards