JME Designs: Site Design

Start Simply

...adapted from Robert Hess (Microsoft's Developer Relations Group evangelist)

30-Second Advertisement

If you were given a free 30-second radio spot, what information would it include?

who you are
what you provide
why somebody would want to contact you
how they can contact you

If you can work out such a sample script, you have a good start for the home page of your Web site.

Your Services

If you receive an e-mail request for more information as a result of your web page, what will you answer?

Let's assume you put up one Web page and listed four or five "services" you provide – in essence, very wide and general topics. Somebody sees your page with your e-mail name on it, and you now have a potential customer interested in more information.

The customer doesn't provide much in the way of specifics as to "why" s/he is interested in your services, so you write up a one-page e-mail that describes the specific services you offer and try to give enough information so s/he will understand how you might be able to help.

You lead with a paragraph that drives quickly to the heart of the matter – the "teaser" or "hook" that will pull the customer into the rest of your response. You want it to sound personal, friendly, not overbearing. But you also want to ensure that it provides the important information a potential customer needs to make an informed decision as to whether to proceed further.

Now, you have a background page to one of your services.

You and Your Company

If you receive an e-mail asking for more information about you or your company, what will you send back?

Again, little is given in the way of specifics on the type or level of information requested. Your response should probably take a form somewhat similar to the cover letter job seekers send with a resume – a nice, conversational-style introduction that helps the reader better understand who you are, and what your goals and objectives are. You would then follow this with some short, specific, low-level, facts and figures that provide quantitative supporting information that makes it as easy as possible for him or her to continue reading what you have to say.

Again, be sure that your lead-in paragraph convinces customers that it is worth their time to read further. And make sure that you continue to provide rewarding, and appropriately entertaining, information.

This section can form the basis for the very important About Us page for your site.

What's Useful to You?

What information would you would find useful to have on your site?

The most important thing to follow through with on your site is solid, truly useful information. Check your notebooks and reference materials for those tables and lists of information which you are always consulting. Make the information on this site useful to you, and there is a good chance it will be useful to others.

Are there questions people commonly ask you, questions you are always retyping in e-mail? Put this on a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page.
Are there Web sites you often go to for research? Create a Links and Resources page, and list these here (insofar as doing so doesn't give away the secrets of your success).

Free Is Good

We've all walked down grocery aisles and seen the little stations or kiosks where free samples are being handed out. Some people who stop have no intention of buying the product; but this free exposure motivates others to take the next step and plunk down some money.

This approach can work on the Web. Is there some aspect of what you provide that might appropriately become a "free" sample? Maybe this is a smaller version of your full product. Maybe it is informational articles based on some of your background. Maybe it is some helpful tools and utilities. The point is that a Web site that just talks about the services you offer might be fine to look at once, but what you really want is to "drive" repeat visits, as well as get people to pass your URL around to others.

An example of this approach might be an artist who is creating an "online" portfolio. In addition to the normal information about the artist, and some representative samples of his or her artwork (appropriately copyrighted and credited), the artist has put together pages of "clipart" for free download and use by others on private web sites. Perhaps most visitors to the site would simply grab some clipart and leave, but some of these lookie-loos would eventually become customers.

DESIGN: Steps | Plan | Profile | Tools | Submit

JME Designs
Design Hoaxes Portfolio		Start Simply ...adapted from Robert Hess (Microsoft's Developer Relations Group evangelist) 30-Second Advertisement If you were given a free 30-second radio spot, what information would it include? who you are what you provide why somebody would want to contact you how they can contact you If you can work out such a sample script, you have a good start for the home page of your Web site. Your Services If you receive an e-mail request for more* information as a result of your web page, what will you answer?* Let's assume you put up one Web page and listed four or five "services" you provide – in essence, very wide and general topics. Somebody sees your page with your e-mail name on it, and you now have a potential customer interested in more information. The customer doesn't provide much in the way of specifics as to "why" s/he is interested in your services, so you write up a one-page e-mail that describes the specific services you offer and try to give enough information so s/he will understand how you might be able to help. You lead with a paragraph that drives quickly to the heart of the matter – the "teaser" or "hook" that will pull the customer into the rest of your response. You want it to sound personal, friendly, not overbearing. But you also want to ensure that it provides the important information a potential customer needs to make an informed decision as to whether to proceed further. Now, you have a background page to one of your services. You and Your Company If you receive an e-mail asking for more information about you or your company, what will you send back? Again, little is given in the way of specifics on the type or level of information requested. Your response should probably take a form somewhat similar to the cover letter job seekers send with a resume – a nice, conversational-style introduction that helps the reader better understand who you are, and what your goals and objectives are. You would then follow this with some short, specific, low-level, facts and figures that provide quantitative supporting information that makes it as easy as possible for him or her to continue reading what you have to say. Again, be sure that your lead-in paragraph convinces customers that it is worth their time to read further. And make sure that you continue to provide rewarding, and appropriately entertaining, information. This section can form the basis for the very important About Us page for your site. What's Useful to You? What information would you* would find useful to have on your site?* The most important thing to follow through with on your site is solid, truly useful information. Check your notebooks and reference materials for those tables and lists of information which you are always consulting. Make the information on this site useful to you, and there is a good chance it will be useful to others. Are there questions people commonly ask you, questions you are always retyping in e-mail? Put this on a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. Are there Web sites you often go to for research? Create a Links and Resources page, and list these here (insofar as doing so doesn't give away the secrets of your success). Free Is Good We've all walked down grocery aisles and seen the little stations or kiosks where free samples are being handed out. Some people who stop have no intention of buying the product; but this free exposure motivates others to take the next step and plunk down some money. This approach can work on the Web. Is there some aspect of what you provide that might appropriately become a "free" sample? Maybe this is a smaller version of your full product. Maybe it is informational articles based on some of your background. Maybe it is some helpful tools and utilities. The point is that a Web site that just talks about the services you offer might be fine to look at once, but what you really want is to "drive" repeat visits, as well as get people to pass your URL around to others. An example of this approach might be an artist who is creating an "online" portfolio. In addition to the normal information about the artist, and some representative samples of his or her artwork (appropriately copyrighted and credited), the artist has put together pages of "clipart" for free download and use by others on private web sites. Perhaps most visitors to the site would simply grab some clipart and leave, but some of these lookie-loos would eventually become customers. DESIGN: Steps \| Plan \| Profile \| Tools \| Submit

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