Websites for Freelancers and Small Businesses
Jamie Snell, Snell Software Consultants, Inc.
March 10, 2008, 6:30 pm, Hugo House
This talk is addressed to you if you’re thinking of
creating a website but don’t know where to start, or already have a website
but wonder what more it could do for you.
Speaker introduction
Jamie is a semi-retired freelance website designer and
developer. He recently concluded ten years of industry experience as a software
usability designer and program manager. Before that he was a computer science
professor for twelve years, and before that he provided user support and
documentation at university computer centers. He is also an amateur musician and
audio editor and loves old movies.
The best types of websites for freelancers and small
businesses
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Small and simple – a few pages, simple HTML only; little
or no Javascript, no ASP, SQL, etc. [what Jamie calls a “brochure site”] |
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Self-maintained – designer builds your site, you do the
text changes, call on the designer for help and changes in layout, graphics,
etc. [This saves the freelancer a lot of money too.] |
Making your website work for you
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Appealing visual design – proper visual and info density
[which is discussed in Beautiful Web Design book], clean layout (fonts, colors,
white space, etc.), consistent look across pages |
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Proper usability design – clarity, consistency,
discoverability, simple navigation to/from all pages, usability trumps beauty |
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Promotion – keywords, links from other sites, search
engine registration, etc. (Google: website promotion) |
The many features available, and sorting out which ones you
really need or want
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Domain name registration – about $8/yr (Google: domain
registration) |
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Hosting (Google: website hosting)
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Shared server space can be free, or your own space for
about $75/yr |
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Beware of package deals with things you don’t need (site
builder software, e-commerce features, etc.) |
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Website building/editing tools [Jamie advises to know what
your designer is using for site design] (Google: website tools reviews,
FrontPage reviews, Dreamweaver reviews, etc.)
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The trouble with MS Word – tons of complex and
unnecessary code, repeated tags, many limitations, incorrect conversions |
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The trouble with MS FrontPage – same problems as Word,
not easy to learn/use ($250 new) |
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The trouble with “site builder” tools: limitations,
recurring cost ($10 - $50/month) |
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High-end tools: Adobe Dreamweaver – avoids above
problems, powerful, well designed but long learning curve, expensive ($300 new) |
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The answer for maintaining simple sites: text editor with
preview (TextPad $33 new) |
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How to work with a website designer: what to look for, what
to ask, what to expect
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What to look for in a designer
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A listener, you-oriented, wants to give you what you want,
not selling a package |
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Must have the goal of making you self-sufficient |
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Not trying to make money on maintenance or hosting |
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Focus on functionality before beauty (use a professional
artist if you want “eye candy”) |
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| Website development process
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Start by looking at existing sites (Google some keywords
you would expect your potential customers to search for) |
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Brainstorm with designer for what you want on your site –
home page, your services, testimonials, samples, links, etc. |
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Sketch each page on paper – layout, images, colors,
fonts, etc. |
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Draft the text for each page |
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Designer builds first draft of website and posts privately,
you revise iteratively with comments and changes until ready to make public |
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Promotion – you can do most or all of this yourself for
free |
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Learn self-maintenance of text (see below) |
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Website design that allows you to take charge and make
changes for yourself
You can maintain the text on a simple site yourself, no
need to be an expert – just basic HTML
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HTML [Jamie advises keeping it simple]
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Essentials – text formatting codes for size, color, font,
treatment, alignment, and links |
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Perhaps later – codes for manipulating images, setting up
tables, etc. |
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Website maintenance process
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Keep your website files on your computer |
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To make changes: edit file on your computer, save, preview,
iterate as needed; open FTP window, upload (drag and drop), verify |
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Software: for Windows, use TextPad editor, FTP is built-in;
for Mac, use Taco editor, Cyberduck
for FTP |
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Four recommended books related to building websites
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Teach Yourself HTML in 10 Minutes (4th edition) by Deidre
Hayes (Sams, 2006) |
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Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web
Usability (2nd edition) by Steve Krug (New Riders, 2005) [Jamie recommends this
book most highly; usability should be your No. 1 concern] |
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Increase Your Web Traffic in a Weekend (5th edition) by
Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. and William R. Stanek (Thomson, 2008) |
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The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird (Sitepoint,
2007) [Jamie advises you do not need this book unless you’re especially
interested in graphic design.] |
Jamie had worked with Guild member Marguerite Langlois to
design her “brochure” website, so his handouts included copies of her
webpages (www.MLServices.biz). They recommended checking your site on different
browsers, while noting that you can’t make a site look the same on all
browsers.
Then Guild members MiAe Lipe-Butterbrodt and Ann Gosch
shared their experiences in developing their own sites: www.whatnowdesign.com
and www.bygosch.com. MiAe’s is quite
elaborate since she offers a range of services including graphics creation and
design, while Ann’s is a basic site, which she created using a template
available through www.register.com.
notes by Ann Gosch, based on Jamie Snell's handout
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