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Mountain Eagle Resources For Web Developers, Designers and Marketers Navigation – Have you ever been to a site where you couldn't find a &*%$# thing?, no matter how hard you tried? WHAT DO YOU DO?---YOU "CANNNNN" THEM, back up to the Search Engine you used and look at the next link. One of the deadliest sins in web design, that will chase a viewer away every time is poor navigation. StoryBoards and visual layouts can avoid a great deal of secondary effort. There are many good software packages out there, one of the best in our opinion is "Microsoft Visio". You can map the "Concept to Cash" flow of a multi-million dollar company, or design the flow of a simple Web Site with relative ease. There are a number of considerations that must be taken into account at the very onset of any site design; Color scheme, purpose, tone, viewer monitor resolution, geographical target (2nd & and 3rd world viewing, hardware and connections), creating customer value, B2B, B2C, usability, accessibility, navigation,content, graphics, meta tags, hosting and more. Again concerning meta-tags. The "Description meta-tag should use the "Keywords" up to 3 times - No More! and the HTML body should use the "Keywords" 3-8 times, NO MORE, NO LESS !, for optimal search engine placement. You will find that these conditions directly influence content. DO NOT USE KEYWORDS THAT DO NOT FIT THESE GUIDELINES OR YOU RUN THE RISK OF BEING DERATED FOR "LACK OF INFORMATION" (too few) OR "SPAMMING" (too many). Never use HTML text the same color as a background. The top engines look for that trick and dole out severe derating penalties! In this post "dot com bust" era, many companies and executives are asking; Where is the tangible value? After a number of multi-million dollar failed attempts to bring e-commerce to industries and companies that deliver highly engineered products and services, we have learned that not everything is easily catalogued or e-Commerced. In these examples a better case may be made for e-business instead of e-commerce. (Ref. Mountain Eagle Commentary on e-Commerce/e-Business). If you subtract a company's earnings derived from tangible and financial assets, from total earnings, the remainder is earnings not captured in the traditional science of finance: intellectual and knowledge asset earnings. A well designed Web Presence should help a company exploit these more Intangible Earnings. Web statistics can help estimate some tangible value. When you generate value for a customer, you automatically generate value for yourself and/or your company. Here are some of the ways in which you can generate value for your client and yourself:
Domain Name Registration, Searches and Value
It has become harder to find good navigation tips and links on the Web. There are so many methods, scripts and theories that most of the "Best Practices" offered are outdated or are now bad links. From plain textural to custom DHTML followers, all have their application. Most of the older recommendations just a short time ago advised that you should ignore the artistic value and go for the functional, primarily. This is no longer the case. Many vendors have provided multiple means within a plethoria of Web design tools. There are however, a few basic guidelines that will never change:
All though the Maintenance side of Web development is more mundane or even boring when compared to the appeal of developing a new site, there are a few considerations we want to offer:
There are many questions that must be settled in the Preparation Stage for the Developer and the Customer. Good communication skills are essential. Again, "ProposalKit" can help guide you through this process. Does your Client have printed media? How much of the verbiage, product information, graphics etc... will they provide in a digital format? Do they want color, style, tone, presentation and graphics continuity between printed and digital media? Can what they want be delivered within their design budget? Have they considered the costs of Site Maintenance, Promotion or Premium Search Engine submission fees? Depending on the site type and purpose, their marketing budget may need to be as high as 40-50% of the total budget. These considerations and many more must be determined at the onset or nonproductive time will corrode your experience. We are NOT advocating that everything be tied down so tight that there is no allowance for the Creative Process that should unfold as you both wander through the development phase. Most of the time a customer has very little or no knowledge of what it takes to "GET THERE". A good Web consult will have an in-depth understanding of all issues involved and be able to guide his/her client through this process. Stop and take a look around you, everything you see was at first a "Thought", a Creative Idea. The "Creative Process" is somewhat iterative and developmental by nature or there would not be progress. Ideas spawn new ideas. Leave yourself a margin to meet these changes or improvements that both you and your client will suggest along the way. Follow the links below, creativity and the creative process. HTML
XHTML
Meta-tags
WAP
Web Site Validators
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