A web site! What is this?
A web site? What for is it necessary?
A web site: objectives of its design.
A web site… How must it look like?

A web site! What is this?

First of all, let us define what a web site is. Popularly speaking, a site is a set of several dozen, hundred or thousand information pages connected with each other by common subject-matter, design, links, and displayed on the Internet. A web site is an information unit presenting a company (a group of companies) or a private person (a group of persons) in the Internet, i.e., in essence, representation available for visiting all civilized world.

Every web site has its address and place of storage in the Internet. A site address is its “domain name”, according to which a user may enter the site kept at any point of the globe. By a storage place one means a server (computer) that has a site page and makes an access to it for Internet visitors. The service for site displacement and storage at such a server is called “hosting”.

There is a great number of different web sites, but, however strange it is, there are people who do not yet understand at all what for they or their venture need a site and what good comes of it. Let us try to clarify this question.

A web site? What for is it necessary?

The company image is a serious matter. The time of one-day-firms irretrievably goes into the past, at the market of goods and services only reliable companies remain, capable of developing actively and adapting to new conditions.

Contemporary world is connected more and more with the universal Internet. In order to find information or work, buy, sell, advertise, entertain oneself, communicate millions of people every minute plunge into the Internet – a bottomless ocean where a modern company is simply obliged to find its place, otherwise… Otherwise a year later, two years later, ten years it will happen to take a back seat in business, lagging behind the contemporary world where people apply for everything necessary for the universal information ocean.

Lest it should happen, any firm needs in its representation in the Internet – a web site. It is as necessary as an office where its workers sit or a shop where its commodity is presented. A web site is a part of the image, company image. Much more quantity of people has an opportunity to “come” to it than to a real office or shop. Therefore, all the more, one must not commit miscalculations or errors, everything should be fulfilled qualitatively and harmoniously – a design, information filling, use convenience.

However, before starting to design a site, you should answer the question “what for your venture needs a web site”. Think over what you would like to achieve creating your representation in the Internet, define a clear-cut goal and set for its fulfillment. Determine how much money you are ready to spend on web site design and its development, and how you will provide a support of the web site. It goes without saying, by that, you should understand that for web site design and its fruitful development you will need certain skills and knowledge. One can try to design a web site by one’s own forces, by studying a mass of literature, by mastering coding, design, construction and so forth, and by spending a lot of time – but one can apply for professionals.

As practice shows, a qualitative web site will not be made by “a strange uncle”, it cannot be bought at the market. Here professional developers are needed – designers, programmers, site developers, managers, writers perfectly knowledgeable of Internet-technologies, possessing creative thinking, conceiving what for the site is of need, and how to make it as an actual business instrument. A cohesive collective is important, capable of doing work qualitatively and nicely, with comfort and aesthetics, and what is the main thing is to make a web site work in the way the firm workers do, and sometimes even more effectively than a human being.

A web site: objectives of its design.

There is a great number of designing a site (and, accordingly, expected results of designing a site). The most important ones are considered as follows:

1. Providing information about the company activity for users (and sometimes – the fact that such company exists at all). The Internet does not have any geographical borders or limitations in time; in addition, its auditorium is simply immense. According to the investigations carried out by Internetworldstats.com, Internet auditorium is constantly increasing, with a number of Internet users in Russia growing more intensively than in any other European country. Correctly designed web site contains information about enterprise activity, photos, schemes, prices and many other things that in full measure reflect a sphere of the enterprise activity.

2. Creating and increasing the company image. In the latest years a web site has become an indispensable attribute of the prosperous company. The fact, that the firm has web site, shows it keeps abreast with the times and treats with respect its potential and already existing clients providing them with complete information of their interest at any suitable time that is impossible to be implemented by no other means. In addition, it is at the site that one can reflect everything the company is proud of: goods and services being offered, its certificates, letters of gratitude, diplomas and so forth, tell about the principles of work and its workers and many other things. It goes without saying that only a qualitative web site with a stylish design and interesting information filling may promote increase of the company image. If a web site is made “in a clumsy way”, it is better to manage without it at all.

3. Keeping in touch with clients and partners. A web site permits to establish links with clients, suppliers and partners, answer their questions, conduct marketing researches. A variety of communication technical means permits to implement actually any communication forms and feedback with clients, almost immediately inform them about enterprise news, discounts, new revenues and so forth.

4. Demonstration and supply of production and services to potential clients. A web site permits to group and show a complete picture of technical and normative documentation, exhibit goods and services by the most various means (photo gallery, video roller, music, panorama and animation shows and so forth). Notice – by displaying information of goods at the site, you will get visitors at any time during the day and from the most different regions.

5. Sale of goods and services immediately in the Internet. Sale via Internet by the so-called Internet shops has become one of the most highly-effective methods of sale in the latest time. Besides demonstration functions you may provide your web site with functions of a direct shop-assistant. Only imagine – a visitor can inspect himself an item, read its characteristics, set a bill or pay in any other way without your presence, register an item delivery. By that, you do not need the whole staff of shop-consultants, managers and cashiers. If you have got a correctly optimized web site, attendance of the Internet-shop can exceed many times that of the whole network of your shops.

6. Information dissemination among the enterprise workers, including detached subdivisions and branches. The Internet gives an opportunity of instant transfer of actually unlimited information amount from one structural subdivision or branch to the other. Information displayed at the web site becomes available for all workers independent of the office location, by that, modern program solutions permit to inform that group of workers for whom this information is intended by closing it for the rest.

7. Search of new partners. As it has already been mentioned, the Internet is not limited by state borders or by continents, even a language barrier does not become a hindrance if one has got a wish to communicate in the world web. All ventures and enterprises in the world over use Internet in this or that extent. If you want to find a firm dealing with slippers production, say in Australia, it is enough for you to introduce a corresponding inquiry into the line of the search engine, and you will get the whole site list of enterprises that could interest you as partners, with addresses, telephone numbers, prices and item patterns. And all this can be done in a couple of minutes! In the same way these very producers from Australia dreaming of selling their slippers in Russia can find your venture.

8. Education and qualification improvement. At the web site one can display almost unlimited information amount: text-books, dictionaries, test tasks with a possibility of on-line testing, and many other things. Such form of education as distant education has been spreading in Russia in the latest years. Besides, the Internet provides such communication means as chats and forums which with correct organization may serve as an effective source of qualification improvement and knowledge expansion.

A web site… How must it look like?

It goes without saying, a number of people equals to a number of opinions. Everybody has a notion of a good web site in one’s own way. No single standard exists here.

However, in our view, there are some signs characterizing a qualitative web site.

1. A web site must attract attention. Don’t think the question is about a bright design with orange and blue animations, with a frivolous beauty on the central page. Such design, undoubtedly, will attract a certain group of users, but rather their visit will not bring you any profits. The main thing is harmony and originality that may be seen just in design simplicity.

2. A web site should be simple in navigation. Whatever spectacular a design was, whatever important information the site contained, no single user will ever learn of it, if it turns out that in order to get to it, he will have to make 15 transitions from page to page. The Internet is an instrument for lazy-bones, and actually what for to go somewhere, if any information can be received sitting at the computer? Don’t make people manifest wonders of quick-wittedness trying to find what it is profitable for you to show them. The simpler and more understandable site navigation is, the better it is both for you and visitors of your site.

3. A web site must be quickly loaded. It is acceptable to consider that average load speed of a web-page must not exceed 15 seconds. For inquiry in the search engine a visitor is given out a big web site list with its subject-matter being of interest. If your site turns out to be loaded too long, in opinion of an impatient user, he simply clicks the other link, and, alas, one less visitor enters your site in spite of its magnificent design and informative content.

4. A web site must not contain non-working links. One of the most unpleasant moments while working with the Internet is when you are searching for necessary-for-you information for a long time, you at last enter the long-awaited site, click the link of your need, and instead of desirable information you read something of the type “Wrong address”. Many users after such disappointment will apply for the other source and will try to never enter your web site.