I see a lot of great work on the internet these days, blogs that make people hundreds of thousands of dollars, websites like Digg where it’s based around user contributions who find things on those interesting blogs and add them in one central place for people to access. It’s a fantastic idea, and people are coming up with ideas to make millions every day.
I also see a lot of websites that really do miss the basics, I’ve seen a few submissions on Digg on occasion that have “50 great logo designs” and “34 websites to inspire you”. These are all good and proper for people new to the internet and they get swept up in the bells and whistles of people using AJAX and flash to make websites. But people seem to miss the fundamentals of design these days, and I’m not just talking about webdesign. I don’t confess to be a webdesigner, I can’t code if my life depended on it! I’m limited to simple html + css, with a little php and hacking of files here and there, webhosting etc… But I know enough to get by to give a client what they want and keep them satisfied.
I was however thrown into the deep end at the age of 17 to run the production department of a newspaper, and I learnt a lot then. But in the space of that job and what I do now… I’ve learnt a lot, and thats more about the structure of a website that works. But still looks pleasing to the eye.
At least for now I’d like to concentrate on some web design, as it’s such a big part of advertising in the world. Businesses don’t seem to thrive if they don’t have a website or at least some presence on the web like a directory listing. Some of the text from below here is off my business websites blog which I’m slowly shifting to here. So it’s a little outdated, but still valid.
When you make a website for someone, you’re going to want to know what the purpose of the website is right? The internet has taken on many names, “the web”, “world wide web” but also taken on the “information superhighway” which I’ve heard a few times. But thats the key word “information”. People come onto the internet for information about something. Be it a restaurant, product from a shop, or looking at a new car. So basically, people get websites to promote and advertise their products or services.
If you’ve ever taken the time to see how search engines work, or tried several search engines on the internet. You’ll know that Google is the most popular and efficient search engine to this day. Why is it so powerful? Because it searches how the common man would search for something on the internet.
Typical search engines search for results in webpages where keywords are planted into the code of a webpage. So if you wanted to search on Yahoo for Nike, the Nike website would have keywords in it. Things like “nike, shoe, michael jordan”, things that are synonymous with Nike. So if you type “Nike” in Yahoo would search keywords in webpages for “nike” and give you the results.
Google wins hands down to other search engines. It searches in the actual pages of content in a website, also searching PDF files, PowerPoint presentations, word documents etc. Google is Stanford Universities official search engine. So when you search “Nike” on Google, not only will it give you the Nike website, it will also search any blog, sports store website or webpage with the word “nike” in it. Meaning you get maximised results on Google.
Now I loop back to where I was heading with it. If you have a website in Flash and no text for it to search through, Google can’t pick up on your site as well as any other. Thats why I prefer a text based website over flash anyday, it has more purpose than just looking pretty. You can make any website look attractive with the right amount of research.
Read more about Google on Wikipedia or more on the Stanford University website.
A lot of people miss out on the fundamentals these days, design and advertising agencies are to busy trying to grab companies to make money that they don’t realise the mistakes they make. Or that their advertising just doesn’t work.
So all this has been motivation for me to start my own business again and have a good stab at it. Starting with lots of research, I think I have my niché in the market, have my targets of who I want to deal with, and where I’d like to be in the next 5 to 10 years. But it will all be on the back burner with my current job and study I’ve taken on.
I’ll talk more about fundamentals and such in more of my entries later on, at least go back into the print media and explain a few things from there that should be ported across into the web biz. But I think that should do it for now.