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  Seven Web Development Pitfalls
Common mistakes you should avoid when designing your new site Many organizations design and develop their own Web sites; others rely on consultants and vendors to help with this process. However you approach your own site, there are a few common Web development pitfalls you should be aware of. Avoiding these mistakes during the development stages can help save you time and money down the road, and will lay the foundation for a successful Web site that grows with your organization. Pitfall #1: Developing without a Plan Though it can be tempting to jump right into the look and feel of your Web site, it's important to address the underlying structure first. Outlining the organizational and technical requirements up front will help ensure that the final site meets your needs and reduce the risk of a costly, extensive overhaul later. If you are working with a consultant or vendor, ask them to help draw up this plan, which should include:
Just as you wouldn't frequent a restaurant that didn't serve food, no one will continue to visit your Web site if it lacks substance, no matter how noble your cause. Ultimately, it's the content of your Web site that will drive most people to it, so invest in it. If you are writing your site's copy in-house, consider having someone unfamiliar with your organization, or a professional editor, take a look at it. Make sure that the message you're trying to put out is what's actually being received. Also, don't put off creating content until the last minute. Begin working on it as soon as you begin planning your Web site, as content delays can often cause projects to run over schedule (and budget). Pitfall #3: Designing Around Personal Aesthetics A well-designed Web site is both nice to look at and functional. While a conceptual, Bauhaus-inspired Web site might look fantastic, it may not be a good choice for a nonprofit that caters to young children. Likewise, an ugly Web site can make your nonprofit look unprofessional and out-of-touch, no matter how well organized it is. When designing your Web site, therefore, make sure it accomplishes your organization's business goals by being attractive and appropriate for your target audience. As difficult as it may be, try to suppress your personal taste ("I don't like blue"), and try to avoid design by committee, which can be a visual death knell. Instead, hire a professional to design your site, or at least to critique your in-house designs early on in the process. Though taste is subjective, a professional designer is trained to evaluate a Web site in ways that may not be obvious to the average Photoshop user. Finally, when designing your site, make sure to use standards that separate the design of the interface from the content. This will make modifying the design or theme much simpler down the road. Pitfall #4: Ignoring Standards Today's Web sites use a variety of widely accepted technology standards, including XHTML and cascading style sheets (CSS), to help to ensure that your Web site will appear correctly across a variety of browsers and platforms. In some cases, standards can also make your Web site more secure. Many consultants will be familiar with the latest Web standards, but you can always find the latest recommendations for good practice on the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web site or by looking up a particular technology (such as CSS or XHTML) on Wikipedia. Pitfall #5: Selecting the Technology Ahead of the Requirements Don't feel compelled to use the latest technology just because it's new. Instead, evaluate the available technologies that best address your specific requirements. For example, a Web site designed entirely in Flash may look pretty, but it won't be accessible to people using screen readers or with slower network connections, and site updates can be expensive. If your goal is to reach as large an audience as possible or to make updates in-house, a less "flashy" Web-building tool may be a more appropriate choice. Open-source content management systems (CMSs), such as Drupal, Mambo, or Plone, are likely to be standards-compliant, and organize and present content in a way that makes it easy to update and sustain your Web site. Pitfall #6: Not Taking Into Account Your Own Workflow Consider how your organization operates before committing to new site features. For example, if you don't currently publish a newsletter and don't have the time or staff to do so, it may be unrealistic to think that you're going to start one from scratch or add a new feature article to your Web site each week. On the other hand, if you already have a monthly or quarterly newsletter, consider reusing content from this existing resource for your new site. Pitfall #7: Failing to Consider Long-Term Sustainability Though you're probably excited to simply launch your new Web site, take a step back and think about what you will need from it a year from now. Who will prepare new content for the Web site? How will you update it? Who will identify when new materials should be added to your site, and how will content be approved before it is published? These are important questions if you want to have a site that is successful three or six months after you launch it. One way to plan for your site's longevity and day-to-day usefulness is to look into a CMS. A CMS, which allows you to create, store, coordinate, and publish Web content using a single software system, can make it much easier for your non-technical communications staff to maintain and keep your Web site up-to-date -- now and in the future. * * * * * * * Chris Steins works at the Los Angeles-based Internet consulting firm Urban Insight.
He has 15 years of experience in all aspects of information systems
life cycle development, including user requirements, project
management, system design, development, and deployment. Copyright © 2007 by TechSoup. |
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