1. attracting visitors
Later in this course (in lecture 6) we will talk about the technical aspects of attracting visitors: e.g., making sure your site can be seen by search engines, getting a memorable URL, and so on. This page talks about the underlying principles. This basically comes down to: There are millions of sites on the WWW - why should someone come and visit yours?
There are three main answers to this question and they all boil down to some form of originality. If your site is not original in at least one of these three ways, it is very unlikely to be an attractive or interesting site:
- Originality in subject matter. If you're forever looking for web sites on something you're particularly interested in, this may well be a sign of a "gap in the market". So go for it!
- Originality in content. Some subjects are always going to be popular, but this is what I mean about trying to personalise a site, or focus in on a more specific topic. Many students take a year out, but no one else took your year out. For the tourist guide, you might therefore be able to do one with a nice personal slant.
- Originality in presentation. Web sites are not only technical exercises, they are creative design works. As any graphic designer or artist knows, even mundane subjects can be made more attractive by some originality in presentation, and/or creative use of the medium.
|
2. target audience
Obviously, you have no control over who visits your site. But you will still benefit from thinking in advance who you want to visit it. The whole style and content of the site might change depending on the answer to that question. This column deals with style - the next slide considers the impact on content.
Earlier in this lecture we saw two very different styles which presented the same content. I was not deliberately trying to appeal to certain audiences, but you may wish to. For example, are you trying to appeal to under-16s? If so, a dull colour scheme and Times New Roman font won't be as effective as funky colours and bold lettering. On the other hand if it's a business site then bright styles might be inappropriate.
| 