Web Site Programming Comes Last!

Reprint from the March 1996 Internet Marketing Newsletter

Web Site Programming Comes Last!

In this day of "Instant Homepage" software, many people often ask, "What goes into the creation of a good web site? After all, isn't it easy to create a web site? Can't anyone do it?"
The simple answer is, "No," although the reasons are somewhat more complex. Like any other creative work, a number of skills go into the creation of a successful web site, such as:

Marketing & Consultation

Technical Writing Ability

Graphics Development & Design

Computer Industry Knowledge

Not to mention the all those folks who keep the supporting hardware and associated software running 24-hours a day!
Indeed, anyone CAN create a web site, but to do it properly, and to get results, is quite another issue. Quickly calculate in your own mind the ratio of "poor sites" to "good sites" that you may have visited recently.
Unfortunately, the majority of these sites simply overlooked one simple rule...

HTML programming comes last!

Before one can even sit down at the computer to begin Site Development a number of questions must be answered in order to assure success:

What are the Primary Goals of this Site?
How will Customer Service be enhanced?
How can we focus on the User instead of the Product or Service?
What Added Value will the Site contain?
How will Navigation within the Site be accomplished?
How will Success be measured?

Once these issues have been thoroughly hashed out by the client, the development team, and others involved with the project, the process of site layout and configuration can begin.
Organizations interested in a WWW Site should think about all these things before forging ahead with a Web Site. A good Site Development Professional will be able to help you put these issues into focus FIRST!
Then ...and ONLY then... can HTML programming [coding] begin!

The Author, Gary E. Torello, is President and founder of QGM, an Internet based marketing company that specializes in assisting other businesses get the most out of their involvement on the Internet.