Websites

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Websites
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What is a website?

• A website is a set of text and graphics on the
  Internet
• Organized into interlinked webpages
• Click on link and jump to another page

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Why a website? (1)

• Provide information
• Contact details, list of staff,
• Provide access to documents
• Newsletters
• Annual reports
• Technical documents
• Research results
• Press releases

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Why a website? (2)

• Show visuals
• Photos, diagrams, etc.
• Allow interaction
• Allow people to ask questions
• Get feedback
• Sell products
• Archive and retrieve information
• Reliable filing system
• Most recent version always available

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Advantages of websites

• Quick
• Always available
• Available anywhere (with internet access)
• Lots of space
• Easy to update
• Very cheap
• Different formats text, images, audio, video
• Interactive, dialogue possible

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Disadvantages of websites

• Org needs computer, software, skills,
  connectivity
• Users also need computer, skills and connectivity
• Access can be slow
• Access only in cities, only for richer clientele
• Hard to get people to visit your site

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Creating a website

• You create website on your computer
• You upload it to the Internet
• Users visit the website and download information
  from it
• Users can interact with site (eg, post comments,
  send email, fill in forms)

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So do you need a website?

• Yes!
• Even if its only one page
• Absolute minimum
• Your organizations name
• What it does
• How to get in touch
• Perhaps part of larger site (eg, parent
  organization or ministry)

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More than the minimum?

• Publications
• News, events
• Description of activities, services and outputs
• Information about your organizations topic area
• Links to other sites and useful information
• Organizational structure
• Staff list
• Online services
• Etc

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What you need for a website

• Equipment
• Services
• Software
• Design
• Content
• Management

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What you need for a website

• Equipment
• Computer, modem, phone line
• Services
• Internet service provider account
• Webhosting account (this gives you a domain name
  eg www.mamud.com
• Software
• Web design software (FrontPage, Dreamweaver)
• Graphics software (Photoshop, Corel, Photodraw)
• Uploading software (FTP) (Filezilla, WS_FTP)
• Web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox)

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What you need for a website

• Design
• Structure of site
• Format, styles, layout
• Content
• Text and graphics to put on the website
• Constant updates
• Management
• Skills to gather and rewrite info for web
• Skills to design site
• Skills to manage computers and use software
• Organizational structure to get info from
  different units
• Funding

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Designing a website

1. Who is audience for your website?
2. What are your websites objectives?
3. Decide general design, appearance and layout
4. Decide on content
5. Decide on software to use
6. Decide who will create and maintain the site
7. Create site
8. Upload
9. Test
10. Launch site
11. Manage
12. Update

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Do it in-house, or contract it out?

• Questions
• Do you have the resources (staff, skills,
  computer, connectivity)?
• How much work will it take? (complex, frequent
  updates)
• How much will it cost?
• Alternatives
• Do it all in-house
• Contract out the design, then do updates in-house
• Contract out all design and management

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Do it in-house, or contract it out?

• Design and manage the website yourself if
• Small, simple website
• Few updates
• Skilled computer operator
• Good connectivity
• Big organization with necessary staff and skills
• Contract an outsider if
• Large, complex website
• Frequent updates
• No computer skills
• Poor connectivity

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Website content

• Useful and of interest to users
• Rewrite info for web
• Short, chunked text
• Use headings, bullets, boldface
• Avoid long pages
• Simple, easy navigation
• Provide access to documents journals,
  newsletters, reports, etc
• PDF or HTML formats

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Website content

• Update regularly to keep site fresh
• Separate content into stable and changeable
• Consider using a blog for news
• Use graphics
• Use attractive images (photos, graphics)
• But use sparingly
• No fancy moving graphics

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Announcing your website

• Register with search engines (Yahoo, Google)
• Put web address on letterhead, business cards,
  signboards, publications, news releases
• Announce website to members, clients and partners
• Announce website in meetings, events, visits
• Put web address on signature line of emails
• Ask other webadmins to put link to your site

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Evaluating websites

• Information available?
• Does the site tell you what you want to know?
• Easy to navigate?
• Is it easy to find the information you want?
• Easy to read?
• Can you understand what is said?
• Downloads quickly?
• Does the info come up immediately, or you have to
  wait?

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A possible website structure
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