Guide to Setting Up a Website

Introduction

Welcome to the Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up a Website. The purpose of this guide

is to help prepare potential customers of with the task of gathering information for

their website. This information gathered will differ depending on the purpose of the

site; however, the guidelines should be general enough for any site.

This guide is will be divided into five main phases: Brainstorming, Information

Collecting, Review, Design and Implementation.

During the Brainstorming phase, you will research other sites and get an idea of what

your site should look like, what features you want to include and what domain name

should be associated with the site.

Guide to Setting Up a Website

Introduction

Welcome to the Beginner’s Guide to Setting Up a Website. The purpose of this guide

is to help prepare potential customers of with the task of gathering information for

their website. This information gathered will differ depending on the purpose of the

site; however, the guidelines should be general enough for any site.

This guide is will be divided into five main phases: Brainstorming, Information

Collecting, Review, Design and Implementation.

During the Brainstorming phase, you will research other sites and get an idea of what

your site should look like, what features you want to include and what domain name

should be associated with the site.

The Information Collecting phase is where you u will gather information, such as copy

and graphics, that you might consider putting in the site.

During the Review phase, you should review the information collected and the ideas

that you have so that you can create a general navigational map of the site. You may

want to use sticky notes on the information that you collect and designate what part

of the site you would like it placed under. Once you feel satisfied that you have

enough information and have a general feel of the site layout, it is critical to meet with

the www.Imagination.vg Web Designer for consultation. After the consultation, a proposal

will be submitted for the estimated cost of building the site.

After the proposal has been accepted, the www.Imagination.vg Web Designer will begin the

Design phase. The designer should have a firm grasp of what is expected and will

create a sample for your approval. Once the sample is discussed with you, any

revisions will be conducted. The site will then be created, tested and reviewed.

After you have reviewed what the Designer has created, the Implementation phase

begins. This is when many administrative steps occur. The site will go live when it is

complete.

Guide to Setting Up a Website

Brainstorming

Most people don’t know where to start when they want to have a website. They

might have a great product or service to sell, but aren’t sure what they need to do

for selling this product or service on the Internet. The following questions will help

you get started.

• Is there a site that you like that you would consider modeling your

site after? This can help with the site layout, design, and functionality.

• What about that site do you like or dislike? Make a list of likes and

dislikes

• What is the purpose of the site? Is it for selling products or services?

Is it going to be an informative site? Informative sites usually include

features such as such as news reports, bulletin boards, a newsletter,

etc.

• Do you plan to have sections such as "About Us", "Contact Us",

"Customer Service” or the like? Make a list of sections you think you

would like to include.

• Is the site going to be mostly static, with an update here and there or

is it going to be updated constantly?

• What colors do you think you would like on the site?

• What domain names have you considered for the website?

(A domain name looks like this: www.yourdomainname.com). You

can check to see if a domain name has been taken by going to

Who Is >>>identity for everyone: http://www.whois.com

• How much do you plan to spend on the site? Figure out what you

can afford and what you are willing to pay for. Some features cost

more than others due to programming versus HTML.

Guide to Setting Up a Website

Information Collecting

Now that you have an idea of what you might want to see on your site, this is the

time to search for copy, pictures, sound bites, movie, etc. to compliment your

ideas. Here are a few things that you may want to look for:

Copy:

• Any brochures that you had made

• Any Word, Quark, Text, etc. file that was created for the product or service

• A business card

• Flyers

Graphics:

• Graphics that you like

• Images found in the brochures, flyers, etc.

• Pictures of the products

Sounds:

• Sound clips that you might want to use, either digital or analog that you

might want to stream.

• We can convert analog, such as a cassette tape, into a digital recording

• Digital formatted files, such as WAV, AVI, MPEG, etc

Movies:

• Movie clips you might want to include, either digital or analog that you may

want to stream

• We can convert analog, such as a video tape, into a digital recording

• Digital formatted files, such as MOV, AVI, MPEG, etc

You may need to contact your printer service or your print designer and ask them

to burn a CD, or copy the files to a Jazz or Zip disk (either 100 or 250) for you.

Guide to Setting Up a Website

Review

Now that you have an idea of what you want on the site, you need to review what

you have. Go through what you have collected and come up with a general

navigation map of the site’s layout. A flowchart is a great way to see the site and

how the pages relate to each other. Divide up the information you have collected,

based on your flowchart, and place it into piles. Use sticky notes to help categorize

the piles.

At this point, you should have a good idea of your needs and wants for the site and

a rough idea of how the site will be laid out. You have collected copy and images

that you might want to include in the site. This would be the time to call us at

www.Imagination.vg to setup a consultation. During the appointment, we will:

• Review and discuss your ideas of what you envision for the site

• Help guide you in areas you may feel weak in

• Suggest ways to accomplish your goals

• Consult on issues such as site traffic, search engines, banner ads

etc.

• Answer any questions you might have

After the consultation both you and www.Imagination.vg Designer should have a better

understanding of the site requirements. At this time, the www.Imagination.vg Web

Designer will create a proposal for the site. The proposal will include the estimated

costs of creating the site, based on the number of hours it is expected to finish

each site requirement. This proposal will be sent to you for review. Please read it

over carefully and discuss it with the designer in order to ensure accuracy of the

requirements.

Guide to Setting Up a Website

Design

Once the proposal has been reviewed and accepted, the www.Imagination.vg Designer

will begin designing the general look and feel of the site. During this phase, you

and the designer will be reviewing the proofs and making changes based on ideas

discussed. There are always changes, so don’t feel discouraged. We will work with

you until you are satisfied and confident that the site will look appealing to the

general public.

Once the general design of the site is created, it’s time to convert it into HTML.

During this phase, the designer will need to contact you periodically for some

information. Here is some information the designer will need:

• A short description of the site needs to be created for the search engines. It

should be no longer than 225 characters in length, including spaces. It

should be packed with keywords/phrases that appear on the site

• A list of keywords and phrases needs to be created for the search engines.

The six most important keywords and/or phrases need to be first. This list

should be words that you as a web surfer would put in search engine in

order to find the site.

• Final copy, graphics, sounds, etc.

By this time, a domain name should have been decided upon. It needs to be

registered in Who Is >>>identity for everyone: http://www.whois.com

Guide to Setting Up a Website

Implementation

Once the site is finished and approved, it will go live. During this phase, many

administrative tasks need to be completed by Sophea, such as setting up the

servers and the DNS record. Here are a few other things we will need to know:

• How many and what email addresses are you going to need?

• Will you require FTP access to the site?

• Will you require access to log files to monitor the site traffic?