Cussins Enterprises

In Step 1 of this group of posts we looked at planning. Step 2 was the actual construction of a website or blog. Now in Step 3 we are going to look at the hardest/never-ending part of having a website or blog.

If you have not guessed. Step 3 involves all the work after the website/blog is up. Just because you have a presence on the World Wide Web means the work is over. In fact the work has just begun.

The third step in building a website is, without a doubt, the longest and the most involved. It takes the fine skills of a brain surgeon and savvy of as the best crime scene investigator. I am talking about;

• Tweaking – I have yet to see a website the was 100% perfect when it was first put up for all computer users to see. Theme and functionality is constantly being adjust for user friendliness and attractiveness.
• Promoting – No website or blog can just go up on the World Wide Web and get instant recognition. It takes work, hard work to get large numbers of  people to see it. Then we go back to Tweaking to make it more appealing to our target audience.
• Fresh Content – Unless your website is weight and measure conversion table, the only way you are going to get to come back to your website is by having periodically update content. I am talking about daily, weekly, and at the most content that is update on a monthly basis.
• Re-evaluate – Unless you want your website lost out among all the millions of websites that are in cyberspace, then you are going to have to be constantly re-evaluating the affect you website has on your target audience.

Then you Tweak, Promote, Add Fresh Content, and Re-evaluate it all over again.

It is always good to draw on paper the look on paper a rough sketch of what you want the home page to look like. Then the relationship between each page. This is known as the structure.

Now comes building. Just as you would not build a office building by yourself, so building a business website does not take just one person. You have carpenters who frame the structure. You have sheet rock people who cover the skeleton. Then you have painters who give it  color. Then comes along the interior decorator who gives the whole structure its’ look and feel.

The webmaster, in this phase of construction, outlines the structure of the website. Then comes along the programmers. It is the job of the programmers to put in the electrical, plumbing, and sheet rock. The designer fills a two fold job. The designer puts color to the web pages, along with the furniture and decoration inside the building. (more…)

Anytime I sit down with a perspective client, then ask them what is the color scheme and look they want on their website, I get a look of panic. It is as if that is the one thing they did not consider.

The perspective clients usually can tell me the purpose of the website. If they are going to sell anything from the website, they can what and its’ price. When they start to pick out color scheme and shapes, it all looks good to them, but there is no consideration to the people they are trying to reach with their website.

We currently have three basic age groups, and three different social economic groups, in the United States. That makes nine unique sets of likes, dislikes, motivations and repulsions. Some are internet and computer savvy while others only use the internet on their cell phones.

Before a color scheme is chosen, the age range and the social economic strata of the targeted group needs to be determined. Then the colors, and symbols that are attractive to that targeted group needs to be selected. From there the website can start to be built.