Creating and Implementing Your Own Web Site 

If you don’t have a web site you are probably feeling a little left out. Maybe you are not doing e-commerce; so why would you need a web site?  You’re doing a fine job of accomplishing your mission with out the web.  But, you want to be better, more efficient, and more effective.  Plus, you’re embarrassed when friends or colleagues ask those now-all-too-typical questions.  “What’s your URL?”  “Can I have your e-mail address?”  “Can I find that information on your web site?”

You Need a Web Site

Web Site Basics

You’ll want to skip this section if you have “geekaspeekaphobia” but I’ll keep this very basic.  Stay with me for a moment if you want to understand what makes a web site work.

Web pages are created using a programming standard called HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).  A basic knowledge of HTML can be very helpful but, thanks to software, HTML proficiency is not needed to create a web site.  If you want to write in HTML all you need is a basic text editor such as Windows Notepad.  You will need to learn the basics of HTML.  It is not rocket science; the coding can be as simple as typing “<b>bold</b>” to make the word “bold” appear as “bold”.

As I said, software can do this coding process for you. Most word processing software (like Microsoft Word) now allows you to create a document as you normally would and then save the text as HTML. There are also several good WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) HTML editors available that let you create pages much as you would with a word processor. Microsoft has a product called FrontPage, which offers an easy way to develop web sites. A liberal dose of wizards, templates and themes will quickly get you on your way to having a complete and professional looking web site. In fact, you can choose a basic web site type, pick a theme, fill in some forms and FrontPage will create a complete web site for you. You can then just type you own text and presto, you have a web site!

The important thing to understand is that all of the editor programs write the HTML behind the scenes for you. However, at some point you are likely to need to edit the HTML by hand so you or someone in your office may want to learn basic HTML. For example, if you need figure out why something isn’t working just right, you may need to look at the raw HTML to figure it out. But don’t let this scare you away; it’s hard to find a young person today that does not know how to make a web page. My 11 year old created her own Pokemon site using FrontPage. So, if no one in your office is up to this high school students and interns are a great resource. For the more adventurous, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has produces a “HTML Primer” that will give you all the basics about HTML.

Publishing Your Web Site

Once you create a web site, you will need to publish it; this is accomplished by storing the pages on a web server. There are many web hosting options to choose from. You should be able to get on your jurisdiction’s web server; but if they don’t have one, there are several other options. You can find free web space through a variety of providers, you can often get free web space from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or you can rent web space (hosting services) for reasonable terms (as little as $7.95 per month). Each of these options will give you an address called an URL (Universal Resource Locator). If you want to get your own unique address, you will need to register a domain name (example davislogic.com.) This can be accomplished by visiting Network Solutions and paying $35 per year for a domain name.

Your URL will be used to point visitors to your home page – the main page and entry point for your site. Typically this is a page named default or index followed by the required suffix of .htm or .html. (This naming convention is used by the web server to deliver your home page when only the domain name is entered in a browser.)

Once you have created your pages and you have your web space secured, you will need to copy them from your hard drive onto one of our web servers. This can be as easy as using Windows Explorer. A good FTP (file transfer protocol) program will make this easy and will use the familiar ‘drag and drop interface’. FTP is simply the way you upload your files to the server. I use CuteFTP which you can download and try out for free. FrontPage allows you to publish web pages directly from within their software but it can be a little tricky. There are many other FTP programs available – you can find them easily by searching the Internet for “FTP”.

If you really want to do things right, or you don’t want to do it yourself, you can always hire a programmer. Web programming normally costs about $50 to $80 per hour, more if you want special animation or graphics.  DavisLogic can help if you are interested.

Success Factors

Pick a domain name that brands your organization -- make sure people can easily remember your "name" on the Web.

Make you site useful. You should have basic information like contact information, telephone numbers and mailing addresses on the first page.

Make it easy for your customers to find what they are looking for. Include background, budget and service information along with printable forms and brochures.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) along with the answers, should be included as well.

Develop a professional look and feel – avoid clutter and unnecessary graphics. Clean, well-formatted text is the best and fastest way to deliver information via the Internet. Make sure that there are no typographical errors.

Get your site registered with search engines. It is important to use key words and descriptions (META tags) appropriately. Once you have done this you will need to register your site with the search engines. There a many free services for this as well.

Make a Web Page the Free and Easy Way

As promised earlier, you don’t need to know HTML to make a web page. Creating a simple web page can be as easy as filling out a form. If you want to start with just getting your basic facts on-line, look into the numerous free web page hosting services that are available. For example, USCouties.com offers free community web pages to Government, Community, and non-profit groups. The process here is simply a matter of filling out a form. The form automates the process of creating a static web page (as opposed to just being included in a database) that immediately gives you a unique URL. Your listing can be enhanced and formatted by creating a description in HTML and then pasting the HTML into the description box in the form.

Many other services are available where you can create free pages using forms or templates. Search on “free web site” and you should find dozens of offerings.

Once your web page is done

Once you have your web site established it is important that you keep it up-to-date. If things like forms, staff, phone number, or addresses change you will need to quickly make the necessary updates. If you have annual reports or other time-sensitive information you will want to publish them on the web at the same time that you publish them on paper. You can also store PowerPoint presentations and word processing documents on the web. This is very easy to do. Keep a local copy of the files, make the simple text edits and then upload the pages.

Conclusion

Your web site will be a very valuable tool for your organization. It is your on-line business card, your virtual brochure, and your electronic lobby. Use it to provide important information to your customers, to advertise your services and to improve the professionalism of your office. It is obviously important to have a web presence and important to do it right.

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