Thought for the day: this is not about building Web sites. Far too much attention has been paid recently to the hype and technology surrounding the World Wide Web. Forget the Web for a minute. Think about what communication needs you and your customers have now and might have in the future.

Are you able to fulfill them using your existing technology? If you can, great. You just saved yourself a whack of money. However, if you have identified some room for improvement, then perhaps establishing a presence on the World Wide Web is the right move.

What are your Web site objectives?

* Generate business leads:

Make it easy for people to find you, and find out about you. Some companies are conspicuous by their absence from the Net.

* Create new revenue streams:

Do you have a product or service that can be offered over the Internet?

* Reduce distribution costs:

Let’s use the example of a typical corporate brochure. How much does it cost to print the brochure, stuff it in an envelope, address it, and put a stamp on it? What if you could deliver similar information, immediately and internationally, via the Web?

* Provide the latest new product info/build a database for organization mailings:

Changing the info on a Web site makes more fiscal sense than phoning, faxing or mailing your customers every time you want to let them know about new products or services. And if you give visitors to your site an incentive to give you their e-mail address, you can send them inexpensive e-mail updates on your company (assuming that you have their permission).

* Survey customers/create new biz opps:

The Web is a cost-effective way to qualify potential customers and get valuable feedback from existing ones. The Web can be a terrific way to experiment with ideas – showcase a new product online and sample surfers’ opinions.

* Increase international distribution and penetration:

Rather than set up an office in another country, consider breaking into that market using the international reach of the Net.

* Electronic commerce:

As secure online payment becomes a reality, you may be able to complete sales transactions without needing a distributor.

* Support existing advertising, promo efforts:

If people want more info about your products or services, the Web could be the perfect way to satisfy this thirst.

Web site development cycle

What follows is a breakdown of the key stages involved in launching a typical corporate Web site. For the sake of clarity, I have separated certain functions that in a real-world scenario might occur simultaneously.

* Concept development – business, creative, technical (two to four weeks):

This is the most important stage. Time spent here will save a lot of money and headaches down the road. All parties should agree on the objectives. Then, prioritize them and turn them into a detailed design document, the architectural ‘blueprint’ of the site, outlining the key components.

Who is involved? Ideally, a project manager of some kind, representing your company, and the Web developer.

* Specifications and planning (two weeks):

Here’s where you iron out the technical and process details of who does what and when. Set deliverables and time lines, which help form the budget. Once again, this is a collaboration between the project manager and the Web developer.

* Creative direction (one week):

A design bible needs to be created outlining the general look and feel issues, as well as navigation, of your site. Out of this could come templates for the various key pages, as well as a color palette and other visual branding definitions.

This stage might involve your in-house art director, the project manager and the Web developer.

* Content production (two weeks):

If you have existing content such as graphics and text, it will need to be converted into file formats used on the Web. Despite all the apparently ‘easy-to-use’ tools on the market, there is a lot more to this than meets the eye.

New content will need to be created as well, which is likely to involve the work of graphic artists, writers and editors.

* Content integration (one to two weeks):

All your content needs to be formatted for Web pages. Doing this right takes considerable time, plus at least one pass by a proofreader. The Web developer and their html layout people will handle this.

* Software integration (one week):

Unless your site is extremely basic, various programs will need to be tweaked or written specifically to allow certain interactive features. The Web developer and their cgi, perl or Java specialists usually handle this.

* Testing and quality control (one week):

Rigorous testing must be performed on the site, both from a technical and a content perspective. Will the hardware stand up to the demands of a lot of visitors? Are there typos? Can Macintosh users view the pages as easily as Windows users? Everyone should be involved in this stage.

* Launch and marketing:

If you build it they still may not come. Your Web site requires continuous promotion, both via traditional media and on the Net. The marketing folks in your company can prepare the official press release, but it’s unlikely they have the expertise to promote the site online. Look to the Web developer or a ‘CyberPublicity’ firm to handle this task.

* Content and technology maintenance (ongoing):

The content of your site needs to be updated frequently and checked for accuracy. Ideally, you will have someone on staff do this, even if all they have to do is answer e-mail. Farming out new content development to the Web developer is another option, albeit an expensive one.

The computer hardware also requires care and feeding. This means either hiring a Webmaster to monitor and maintain your in-house equipment, or arranging for your Web site content to be hosted on a third-party Server Farm. The latter is usually the most efficient.

* Tracking usage (ongoing):

You are going to want to gauge the activity on your site so that you can determine what is working and what is not. For simple statistics and visitor info, look to a number of off-the-shelf software packages. If you require detailed auditing of the results, perhaps because you are selling advertising on your site, you will probably need to hire a Web auditing firm.

Costs involved

How much does a Web site cost?

How long is a piece of string? The cost of a Web site varies greatly depending on your requirements. A very basic but professionally designed corporate site could be created for as little as $5,000, but on average you should expect to pay anywhere from two to 20 times that amount. Factoring in the cost of content updating and maintenance can easily add 10% to 25% to the budget.

What is involved in setting up a Web site?

Information content and structure, host computer (server) hardware, server software, Internet access, ongoing maintenance.

Questions to ask yourself: Do you have expertise? Content creation skills? Technology? Do you have the people?

Think long and hard about doing it completely in-house. How much money will you save if the finished product ends up looking like the work of amateurs?

What personnel are required? Project manager (in-house/out-source), writer/content specialist (in-house/out-source), designer/graphic artist (in-house/out-source), marketing specialist (in-house), programmer/technology specialist (in-house/out-source), customer support specialist (in-house).

Consider a combination approach. In-house: management, content maintenance. Out-source: content production and integration, technology maintenance.

Choosing a Web developer

Here is a ruthless tip sheet to help separate the winners from the wannabes.

Does their business card have an e-mail address on it? An url? What is their corporate Web site like? Their own site should represent their shining hour. Does it load quickly? Does it work with the graphics turned off? Can you find your way around easily? Are there any typos? Don’t even consider hiring a company that does not have its own site.

What are the urls (Web site addresses) of some of the sites they have created? What are they like? Would you return to these sites?

How long have they been doing this? The Web as most people now know it has been around a few years. An ‘experienced’ developer is expected to have had at least a year of Web site building experience.

What conferences and trade shows do they attend? A professional firm should at least know where Spring Internet World is held (San Jose) even if they do not attend!

How do they stay on top of new developments? Which Internet newsgroups do they read? What industry associations do they belong to? In Canada, the professionals belong to imat (Interactive Multimedia Arts & Technologies Association) and/or iics (International Interactive Communications Society).

What other types of communication projects do they work on regularly? The Web is an amalgamation of many media. Does the firm have a background in print or, even better, multimedia design? Do they truly understand communication, marketing, advertising and video?

Ask to see their complete portfolio. What kind of work have they done in the past? If it’s not related to communications, you are wasting your time.

Are they experienced in interactive communication? This can be difficult to gauge. Try asking them what they consider makes a good Web site.

Do they fully grasp the limitations of current Internet technology? Try looking at their sites using a 14.4 modem and a 16-color monitor. A good Web developer knows how to design for the lowest common denominator.

Do they have experience with sophisticated programming languages? They should know unix, cgi, and Java, or at least have access to freelancers who do.

Do they do custom software development? How were the interactive features on the previous sites they built created? Did they write the programs themselves, or did they use someone else’s software?

How do they handle image and file labeling and management? What systems do they have in place to make the development process more efficient?

Do they understand your organization’s objectives and goals? They will demonstrate this by asking you lots of questions.

Do they offer marketing and public relations counseling and support? Promoting a Web site online takes more than just submitting it to Yahoo. An experienced Web developer will know the secrets of getting your site noticed.

Do they understand your business and/or industry? Look for a developer that speaks the same ‘language’ as you do, or is at least willing to learn.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

I would like to go on record as saying it’s dead easy to build a Web site. Anyone can do it for little to no money.

What is not so easy, however, is building a successful Web site, one that meets your business objectives and encourages people to return time and time again. There are thousands of sites on the Internet, most of them mediocre.

Why? The clever folks at Artech, an American Web development firm, have diagnosed some of the major problems as follows:

– Sistine Chapelitis:

This refers to the graphic overload syndrome where you wait, and wait, and wait for an utterly non-essential image/icon to load. Or not, as often the case may be, whenever exiting is an option.

– Siteusnervosa:

Blinking is to be expected from Christmas lights in malls, but it’s darn annoying a foot away from your face when you’re trying to read the screen. Utilize the techno bells and whistles in a restrained and sophisticated manner befitting this intimate medium.

– Situs Incommunicado:

This is an interactive medium. Interact. You haven’t spent the aforementioned whack of dough to make people grumpy by ignoring their feedback.

– Pagus Invisibillus:

Unless your goal is to have a low Web profile (in which case the creation of The Invisible Site would be non cost-effective to say the least) you will need to advertise and integrate the promotion of your Web presence in all company communication efforts.

Other common mistakes:

– Rushing in without a master plan;

– Appointing the wrong person to the task;

– Failing to research the competition;

– Lack of organization;

– Not providing surfers with a reason to return;

– Overlooking the Web as a global medium.

How to avoid making mistakes:

– Know your goal. You would be amazed how many companies launch Web sites without asking themselves why.

– Content is king. Sure, it’s a hackneyed expression, but if your site is not going to contribute anything of value and substance to the online world, why bother?

– Keep it fresh. You cannot allow your site to remain static. Plan to update the site a minimum of once a week or do not launch it in the first place.

– Integrate the Web initiative with the rest of the company’s.

It’s still not uncommon for the folks from marketing to discover, usually to their horror, that the folks from the computer department have already put their company on the Web. It’s time for some of these departments to bury the hatchet.

– Think about the experience you’re offering.

Do you read your company’s annual reports? Then why inflict them on Web surfers? Visitors to your site should not have to read endless pages of press releases.

– Think customer service, not selling.

Heavy-handed online sales pitches do not work. Helping your customers find what they need does. Even if this means linking to the competition!

– Do not ignore the power of e-mail.

All this talk of the Web obscures the fact that good old-fashioned e-mail is a very powerful tool. Use it to correspond with customers, set up Auto Responders that will send canned information to anyone who writes in, or create a monthly e-newsletter that goes out to special customers.

– Make it easy for people to get to your content.

Web surfers are not going to wait more than 10 seconds for your home page to load. And if they have to wade through endless screens to get to what they want, they will quickly give up. There is no such thing as a Web site that’s too obvious.

– Take advantage of the unique characteristics of this medium.

The Web is an interactive, realtime, two-way medium. Lose sight of this and you will soon have a ‘ghost site’ on your hands. Just keep repeating to yourself, ‘A Web site is not an online brochure. A Web site is not an online brochure’

Comparing in-house versus out-source costs:

Hosting a Web site in-house:

Server hardware $6,000

Server software $5,000

Power supply/backup systems $1,500

Router/firewall $4,000

High speed Internet connection (per year) $12,000

Technician (per year) $45,000

Total $73,500

or …

Hosting a Web site on a third-party server farm:

Monthly fee $100-$1,000

Total (per year) $1,200-$12,000

bill sweetman (ideaguy@ideaguy.com) is currently interactive producer at MediaLinx Interactive, where he oversees the creative development of Sympatico and other Internet services. Prior to this, Sweetman produced award-winning films and tv spots, and was the manager of multimedia projects for ytv.

A directory of Canadian multimedia developers who create Web sites, cd-roms, and other interactive content can be found at his Multimediator Web site: //www.ideaguy.com/