Websites - Part Deux - Some Advice, FWIW
SarasotaFrank
Posts: 1,625 ✭✭
Now that the flames have died out, here are some thoughts to keep in mind as it relates to any website in general, and perhaps coin websites in particular:
The internet has leveled the playing field between one person show and international conglomerate. Ten years ago, marketing materials were much more dollar intensive than they are now, as most marketing materials were printed on paper. Brochures were $1,000.00 per page at minimum and to produce a catalog or brochure of any significant design and content was a $20,000.00 effort, with the biggest portion of the expense being putting the ink on the paper.
Today, ANY COMPANY can look like a million bucks on the internet. Granted design and content development isn't free, and if you hire a real pro, as opposed to a hack, you can expect to pay - but nowhere near what you would pay for printed material. A few thousand dollars will go a long way in elevating the impression your company portrays.
Before creating a site - any site - get a feel for what looks good. There is a vast library of material on the internet in the form of the websites of the world's best companies. Go to websites like chrysler.com, jaguarcars.com, allstate, motorola, historychannel, generalmotors, generalelectric, etc, etc, etc. See what a really professional website looks like, feels like and how it navigates. See how it communicates to you. There is not a site on the internet that another person can't duplicate with relatively simple software and a pc.
This is not to say that you should copy someone else's design, but merely to illustrate how easy it is to LOOK LIKE a really professional outfit.
Once you know what looks good - start planning. Start with your hierarchy of what will be presented and break it into categories. Take individual elements and group them in categories. No one minds clicking through stuff, especially if you keep them informed as they go through page after page. You WANT your customer to navigate. Create an org chart of general categories and position your sub-catgeories within these.
Figure out a framework and make it consistent. Your banner - be it top or side should appear on every page to make navigating easy. Likewise the buttons. Collapsing menus are easy to develop and easy to use. When I visit a site that employs user friendly features, I want to stick around.
A good rule of thumb is to break your presentations of subjects down to individual pages which can be viewed without scrolling up, down or sideways. One page should be able to be tastefully viewed on the screen. Allow easy navigation from each page.
Use reasonable amounts of space. I have 21" monitors, however, I design nothing that can't be viewed as a single page on a 15" monitor. While I use 1200 x 1600, the majority of the browsing world doesn't use a resolution over 480 x 640.
Use a color palette and limit your use of color to complimentary colors. Limit your font and font size selections. The internet actually uses a very small amount of type faces, and it is absolutely not necessary to try and use them all. If you have a toss up between large type, and not-so-large type - go for understated. Again - visit websites of industry leaders and see how tastefully their sites are prepared. Feel free to copy a good color scheme. Avoid backgrounds - they just make it tough to read your material. Try sticking to sans serif typefaces, as they are most readable. If you really want to use serifs, use them for headings, keeping your text sans serif.
Photos do not have to be overpowering to be effective. Thumbnails which link to "supersize" windows will satisfy most collectors.
Most importantly - remember to WIIFM. Tell your visitor What's In It For Me (them). Nobody cares about what you are "proud" of, what your family or family dog looks like (sorry dog lovers - I'm being blunt for your own good). They DO care about what you have to offer, your professional credentials and your credibility.
Avoid needless animation, bells and whistles. Animated gifs have gone the way of the buggy whip. You don't need flash affects on every page. Flash is bandwidth hog and frustrates those with a dial up connection. Try fireworks rollovers - very nice, very stylish and easy on the modem.
Make contacting you easy - both via email and by listing your address, phone and fax numbers prominently.
If you are going to hire outside help - don't hire a graphics person - hire a communicator who has graphics capability, or access to it. What your site says, and how well it is organized has much more to do with its success then how snappy the graphics are. Avoid the temptation to write it yourself. You are way to close to the subject and too emotionally involved to do an effective job. Get an absolutely unbiased third party to review it for you, and TAKE THEIR ADVICE.
Update regularly. Nothing is more frustrating than an out of date site. If I see a coin I would like to purchase, I really don't want to find out it was sold two weeks ago.
If you must your own website - use good software. The Macromedia suite - dreamweaver, fireworks and flash is easy to use and there is hardly a site on the internet that cannot be made using these products. There is not a badge of honor for creating a website using html code created in notepad.
Random thoughts on how to start thinking about an effective website. If it helps, great. If I have offended someone's website, I apologize, as that was not my intent. If any of these comments cause a dealer - be they major, or the "vest pocket" variety - or a collector for that matter, to rethink a website that could be improved, then it's all good.
The internet has leveled the playing field between one person show and international conglomerate. Ten years ago, marketing materials were much more dollar intensive than they are now, as most marketing materials were printed on paper. Brochures were $1,000.00 per page at minimum and to produce a catalog or brochure of any significant design and content was a $20,000.00 effort, with the biggest portion of the expense being putting the ink on the paper.
Today, ANY COMPANY can look like a million bucks on the internet. Granted design and content development isn't free, and if you hire a real pro, as opposed to a hack, you can expect to pay - but nowhere near what you would pay for printed material. A few thousand dollars will go a long way in elevating the impression your company portrays.
Before creating a site - any site - get a feel for what looks good. There is a vast library of material on the internet in the form of the websites of the world's best companies. Go to websites like chrysler.com, jaguarcars.com, allstate, motorola, historychannel, generalmotors, generalelectric, etc, etc, etc. See what a really professional website looks like, feels like and how it navigates. See how it communicates to you. There is not a site on the internet that another person can't duplicate with relatively simple software and a pc.
This is not to say that you should copy someone else's design, but merely to illustrate how easy it is to LOOK LIKE a really professional outfit.
Once you know what looks good - start planning. Start with your hierarchy of what will be presented and break it into categories. Take individual elements and group them in categories. No one minds clicking through stuff, especially if you keep them informed as they go through page after page. You WANT your customer to navigate. Create an org chart of general categories and position your sub-catgeories within these.
Figure out a framework and make it consistent. Your banner - be it top or side should appear on every page to make navigating easy. Likewise the buttons. Collapsing menus are easy to develop and easy to use. When I visit a site that employs user friendly features, I want to stick around.
A good rule of thumb is to break your presentations of subjects down to individual pages which can be viewed without scrolling up, down or sideways. One page should be able to be tastefully viewed on the screen. Allow easy navigation from each page.
Use reasonable amounts of space. I have 21" monitors, however, I design nothing that can't be viewed as a single page on a 15" monitor. While I use 1200 x 1600, the majority of the browsing world doesn't use a resolution over 480 x 640.
Use a color palette and limit your use of color to complimentary colors. Limit your font and font size selections. The internet actually uses a very small amount of type faces, and it is absolutely not necessary to try and use them all. If you have a toss up between large type, and not-so-large type - go for understated. Again - visit websites of industry leaders and see how tastefully their sites are prepared. Feel free to copy a good color scheme. Avoid backgrounds - they just make it tough to read your material. Try sticking to sans serif typefaces, as they are most readable. If you really want to use serifs, use them for headings, keeping your text sans serif.
Photos do not have to be overpowering to be effective. Thumbnails which link to "supersize" windows will satisfy most collectors.
Most importantly - remember to WIIFM. Tell your visitor What's In It For Me (them). Nobody cares about what you are "proud" of, what your family or family dog looks like (sorry dog lovers - I'm being blunt for your own good). They DO care about what you have to offer, your professional credentials and your credibility.
Avoid needless animation, bells and whistles. Animated gifs have gone the way of the buggy whip. You don't need flash affects on every page. Flash is bandwidth hog and frustrates those with a dial up connection. Try fireworks rollovers - very nice, very stylish and easy on the modem.
Make contacting you easy - both via email and by listing your address, phone and fax numbers prominently.
If you are going to hire outside help - don't hire a graphics person - hire a communicator who has graphics capability, or access to it. What your site says, and how well it is organized has much more to do with its success then how snappy the graphics are. Avoid the temptation to write it yourself. You are way to close to the subject and too emotionally involved to do an effective job. Get an absolutely unbiased third party to review it for you, and TAKE THEIR ADVICE.
Update regularly. Nothing is more frustrating than an out of date site. If I see a coin I would like to purchase, I really don't want to find out it was sold two weeks ago.
If you must your own website - use good software. The Macromedia suite - dreamweaver, fireworks and flash is easy to use and there is hardly a site on the internet that cannot be made using these products. There is not a badge of honor for creating a website using html code created in notepad.
Random thoughts on how to start thinking about an effective website. If it helps, great. If I have offended someone's website, I apologize, as that was not my intent. If any of these comments cause a dealer - be they major, or the "vest pocket" variety - or a collector for that matter, to rethink a website that could be improved, then it's all good.
"I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my Grandfather did, as opposed to screaming in terror like his passengers."
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Somebody - throw that dog a bone!