One of my diverse interests is computers. That's why I believe that a personal website of mine would not be complete without a section on the subject. In this part of my bin, I have decided to share the three columns I have written during my short stint as the resident web expert in the SouthBeach Sun, the official e-zine of the GeoCities SouthBeach community. If the response I get is positive, then I will try to post more web design tips.

Effective Web Site Planning

Creating web sites seems to be the "in" thing these days. Most of the internet savvy people whom I know cherish the thought of having their own web pages. And with free web page hosting services like Yahoo! GeoCities, Tripod and Fortune City mushrooming throughout the world wide web, such desires can easily be turned into reality. Sadly, with the ease of creating web pages nowadays also comes the tendency of people to build websites without doing sufficient planning. As a result, there are presently a lot of sites that do not attract sufficient web surfers or are simply abandoned. It really comes without saying that planning is an essential step in web site building.

The first step in planning a site is deciding a theme for it. Like books, essays and other printed materials, a site must have a topic. Moreover, like the former, this can range from food and wine to computers and astrophysics. The choice of topic is really up to the web developer. Nevertheless, the following guidelines should be observed. For one, the creator of the web site must have sufficient interest in the topic (especially if it is a personal and not a money-making project) so that he or she will have the motivation to gather data or do research for the site. Second, there must be enough sources of content for the site. This is self-explanatory. Third, the topic must be as unique as possible. There are already a lot of sites in the internet -- what differentiates this new site? Personally, I believe that several sites may have the same topic but maybe unique in terms of how the topic is presented and what the web developer's view is on the topic. Last, the topic must be interesting to the general public or at least to a group of people. Sites dedicated to Dawson's Creek and other famours television shows attract a lot of surfers while a site about one's fingernails will not be as successful. Obviously, there is no point in putting up a web site that no one visits.

After settling on a topic, the next step is to decide on a way to present it. The first step in this process is to break down the topic to several chunks or subtopics, a skill that should have been mastered by any high school student. Depending on the length and depth of the contents of the site, these subtopics can form a web page or a group of web pages (otherwise known as a section of a site). The next important step is the organization of the site itself -- what structure the site will have, what content will be placed on what parts of the site and how will the different parts be linked with each other. This can be accomplished through a process called storyboarding, which will be the topic of my next column. In the mean time, for more web page tips, you can go to the SouthBeach Tutor.

Next: Content Is King >>

Entrance | Behind the Bin | Bookshelf | Computer
Games | Television | What's New | Site Map

Sign my guestbook | View my guestbook

Last update: May 21, 2000

Should you have any comments and suggestions, feel free to contact me.

For more information about the artwork that can be found in this page, please refer to the disclaimer. Do note though that this page's background, header graphic, content and design are © 1998, 1999 Willy's Bin. All rights reserved.

This page is hosted by GeoCities.