Web Site Design

In today’s business world, possessing a web presence is almost a necessity. Knowing the basics of website design is essential to understanding how to best present your company to the public on the World Wide Web. Website design is defined as the skill of creating presentations of content that is delivered to the end user through the World Wide Web or other web related software. Website design facilitates one of the fastest modes of communication and dissemination of information in the world. 

Website design is similar to a book design in that one single website may contain links to pages akin to those pages in a traditional book. The first page of this book is called the Home Page. This page and each subsequent pages are written in an Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and are assigned a unique Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address to mark its place within the World Wide Web. The pages are then “bound” together like a book by linking each of these URLs into one website. Once the website is completed it can be uploaded or published to the internet by using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) from a host server. 

In order to develop a website it must possess four key elements:

Content

The content should be accurate and targeted to a particular audience for the express purpose of communicating a thought, idea, service, product, or other form of communication. Content can be in audio, visual, written or combination as long as it is relevant to the site. 

Usability

The site should be “user-friendly” and easy to navigate. The user should be able to intuitively navigate the flow of information on the site. Otherwise, valuable information will be lost if the site is too complicated. 

Appearance

The site should have an inviting appearance. The more inviting the more likely a user will stay on the website to read the material. The appearance of the site should be relevant to the topic of the website.

Visibility

Without the use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM), the website will be lost among the billions of sites available on the World Wide Web, unless the company specifically directs a client to the website. To gain visibility one must have a marketing strategy to gain exposure. 

The process of developing a website can often become a multidiscipline process involving, graphic designer, authoring, animation, human-computer interaction, databases, marketing, photography, information architecture and many more. 

To combine the multi-discipline project the following website languages are often employed in website development: markup languages (HTML, XHTML, XML), style sheet languages (CSS and XSL), Client Side Scripting (Java Script), Server Side Scripting (PHP and ASP), Database Technologies (MySQL and postgreSQL), Multimedia Technologies (Flash and SilverLight).

For the technophobe or the less proficient, there are also other tools that assist the user in constructing web pages, like Wiki, Content Management System (CMS) or Forum. Web Site Design

 

In today’s business world, possessing a web presence is almost a necessity. Knowing the basics of website design is essential to understanding how to best present your company to the public on the World Wide Web. Website design is defined as the skill of creating presentations of content that is delivered to the end user through the World Wide Web or other web related software. Website design facilitates one of the fastest modes of communication and dissemination of information in the world. 

Website design is similar to a book design in that one single website may contain links to pages akin to those pages in a traditional book. The first page of this book is called the Home Page. This page and each subsequent pages are written in an Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and are assigned a unique Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address to mark its place within the World Wide Web. The pages are then “bound” together like a book by linking each of these URLs into one website. Once the website is completed it can be uploaded or published to the internet by using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) from a host server. 

In order to develop a website it must possess four key elements:

Content

The content should be accurate and targeted to a particular audience for the express purpose of communicating a thought, idea, service, product, or other form of communication. Content can be in audio, visual, written or combination as long as it is relevant to the site. 

Usability

The site should be “user-friendly” and easy to navigate. The user should be able to intuitively navigate the flow of information on the site. Otherwise, valuable information will be lost if the site is too complicated. 

Appearance

The site should have an inviting appearance. The more inviting the more likely a user will stay on the website to read the material. The appearance of the site should be relevant to the topic of the website.

Visibility

Without the use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM), the website will be lost among the billions of sites available on the World Wide Web, unless the company specifically directs a client to the website. To gain visibility one must have a marketing strategy to gain exposure. 

The process of developing a website can often become a multidiscipline process involving, graphic designer, authoring, animation, human-computer interaction, databases, marketing, photography, information architecture and many more. 

To combine the multi-discipline project the following website languages are often employed in website development: markup languages (HTML, XHTML, XML), style sheet languages (CSS and XSL), Client Side Scripting (Java Script), Server Side Scripting (PHP and ASP), Database Technologies (MySQL and postgreSQL), Multimedia Technologies (Flash and SilverLight).

For the technophobe or the less proficient, there are also other tools that assist the user in constructing web pages, like Wiki, Content Management System (CMS) or Forum.