Short Order Site
Preparation Details
Getting a new web site is clearly easier and quicker than you may have thought.
But there's an old saying "The devil is in the details." But - that doesn't have to be the case. Do a little homework ahead of time, and you'll be able to get the most out of your new Short Order Site. Pay attention to detail as you prepare your materials, and you'll be sure to be happy later.
When we develop a full-blown site package, there is a great deal of interaction and consultation between our clients and us. In order to offer a package at this price and time frame, that sort of give and take isn't possible. (For further regarding terms and limitations, please see the appropriate page.) But think of this page as your own private consultation, and you'll still end up with the great web site you're after.
Preliminary: Tips and Tricks
The name game
There are two basic approaches to picking a domain name: Use your business name (bigbobcorp.com), or focus on your speciality (beautysalon.com). Ideally, your business name clearly identifies your specialty (bigbobbeautysalon.com), so the decision won't be difficult.
Within that framework, remember:
- Shorter is better, all other things being equal - but unless you're CBS or the NFL, a full name is better than an abbreviation.
- Easy spellings are better.
- Easy to remember is a must.
- Pick something unique, and be sure to have a fall-back.
Emphasize the right content
If you're at this stage, you probably have a pretty good idea regarding what you have to offer. For an effective web presence, you need to analyze what words and phrases your prospective clients/site visitors are going to use in a search and land where they want to be - on your doorstep. These are known as "key words" - but don't be fooled by the term to think they're all about the old practice of putting key words in the head tags. With modern search engines, they don't do anything hidden up there.
How should you deploy your key words and phrases?
- How? Use them naturally, and use them frequently. But don't sacrifice the intelligibility of your content for the sake of getting a few more key words on your page.
- Where? Use your key words in spots most important to search engines: your domain name, your page title, your headings, and your links are particularly crucial.
The home page
Remember that most site visitors don't come expecting to spend a lot of time. You have a few brief seconds to catch their attention and assure them you have something that's worth them spending a few minutes of their busy day on your site.
Therefore, your home page needs to be:
- Well-organized (disorganization frustrates the visitor, which isn't how you keep him longer);
- Attention-grabbing;
- Succinct. Don't try to jam everything onto your home page. Give a brief, clear overview of what you're all about, and direct the visitor to your other pages for further details where appropriate.
Get Your Stuff Together
General info
Make sure you fill out the questionnaire to answer the general questions (e.g. identify your domain name choices, general "feel" you're after [formal, casual, etc]). We've created the questionnaire in .txt format (able to be opened by WordPad or any word processor) so that you can easily put your answers next to the questions.
To save the questionnaire to your computer, right-click on the link and choose Save As... or Save Link As... (specific wording will depend on your browser, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc). Then edit the questionnaire with your answers and include with your other files.
Textual content
Include all your textual content, and clearly mark what you want on each page. (Remember: you may have up to five pages, including a contact page, in your Short Order Site.) Don't forget to indicate where you want links to your other pages.
Images
Collect up to 12 high quality images that you want included on your site. (If you have a specific page in mind for a given image, be sure your instructions are clear.)
Rules of thumb for images:
- Send as good of quality images as your upload connection and our limits allow (keep your total package well under 12 MB). It is easy for us to optimize and resize your image for the web; the other direction (trying to make a main image out of - say - a 5 kb graphic) is not going to work out well.
- Don't expect miracles - but if your image is a bit dull or has unwanted elements on one side or in a corner, don't be afraid to use it. Images can be edited - within reason. We can brighten things up and crop out unwanted elements if necessary. (Just be sure to identify what you want cropped.)
Zip it up
When you are sure you have gathered all your data, if possible place it all in one zip file rather than uploading a whole bunch of files. (There are numerous zip utilities. If you don't have one, Filzip has a free version that works well, as do numerous others.) If upload speed doesn't make it practical to zip everything into a single file, use 2-3 zips if necessary.
Be sure to name your file or files clearly in such a way that they won't "get lost" among other client uploads. Either name your zip files after yourself or your desired domain name. E.g.
bobsmith.zip
Or, if multiple:
bobsmithImages01.zip
bobsmithImages02.zip
bobsmithTextInfo.zip
You will receive uploading instructions after you have paid for your site.