Web Design,3rd Edition

7Promoting andMaintaining a Web Site

Chapter Objectives

Explain how to test a Web site before it is published Describe how to publish a Web site to a Web server Identify ways to promote a published Web site Discuss the importance of maintaining and evaluating

a published Web site

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Testing a Web Site Before Publishing

Self-Testing– Page display – different browsers and platforms– Image display – verify file names and locations– Alternate text descriptions – display when images turned off– Internal links – functional before upload– External links – WYSIWYG can check automatically– Satisfy WAI guidelines – HTML validator

After conducting self-testing, correct any identified problems

Web Site Testing

Group Testing– Group - people representative of target audience,

take notes on the following items1.What appeals to group

2.What disinterests group

3.Time spent on various pages

4.Visited / ignored links

5.Ease of navigation

6.Demonstration of confusion or annoyance

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Testing a Web Site Before Publishing

Questionnaire– candid opinions about experience on your Web

site1. Did find site interesting and content valuable?

2. What could improve the Web site?

3. What should be added or deleted?

4. What helped or hampered navigation?

5. Would they return to the Web site?

Your Turn! (page 185)Exploring How to Organize a Test Group

1. Review the audience profile you developed for your Web site that should include age range, gender, educational background, geographic location, careers, income levels, and lifestyles. Review the identified target audience needs, wants, and expectations for site content. 

2. Identify individuals you know who match your target audience’s profile. Ask the identified individuals and other interested parties, such as friends, family members, and fellow students to participate in the group testing of your Web site.  

3. Develop a questionnaire for the testers in which they can express their candid opinions about their experiences on your Web site.

Note: Classroom Students: Print out 4 hard copies of your questionnaire to share with the other members of your assigned group.

Publishing the Web Site

3 Things Required before making Web site live

1. Acquiring server space

2. Obtaining a domain name

3. Uploading your Web site

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Acquiring Server Space

All files must be uploaded to a Web server Client-side vs. server-side functions

– client – take place in user’s browser– server – take place on remote server (script)

Server space is available from– ISPs and OSPs– Free hosting services

1. ISP – advertisements

2. College web server

3. Online communities– MSN Web Communities– Yahoo! GeoCities

Acquiring Server Space

Consider the following– Monthly fee– Server space allotted, additional space cost– Naming conventions for files

• .htm or .html, home page called index or default

– Downtime for maintenance / backing up– E-commerce / Multimedia / SSL support

• additional fees

– FTP software– Extra capabilities

• FrontPage or Office Server Extensions, CGI or ASP, mailing lists

– Technical Support

Acquiring Server Space

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Uploading Your Web Site

Transmitting all files that comprise your Web site to the Internet

Three methods1. FTP applications

2. WYSIWYG software

3. Web folders

FTP Client

Used to transfer files using the FTP protocol

Provides a familiar GUI Must add the name and

URL of the remote computer, plus your assigned username and password

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Localcomputer

remotecomputer

FTP Applications

Used to transfer files on the Internet

FTP Requires1. Site name

2. Host/IP/URL

3. Host type

4. Username and password

do not upload unnecessary source files

– image or word processing files

typical informationneeded by FTP

applications

WYSIWYG Editor

Allows you to upload your Web site directly from within the program– Microsoft Expression

Web Eliminates the need for

a separate FTP client FTP program is built in

– can identify specific files to publish

– can publish only files that have changed

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Command-Line Interface

Non-graphical window

Opened by typing the cmd command in the Search box

Type the FTP commands necessary to log on and upload

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Retesting Published Pages

Confirm that all images display properly.Make certain that no broken links existEnsure all interactive elements, such as forms,

are functioning properlyIf any changes are necessary, correct the page

file(s) on your local computer and then upload the corrected page file to the server

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Web Site Promotion

It is important to announce your presence on the Web– Online promotional techniques

• Search tools• Search tool submission services• Affiliate programs• Link exchange programs• Online advertising networks• Web-industry awards• Opt-in e-mail advertising

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Online Promotional Techniques

Search Engines– Maintain a database of sites on the Web– Equivalent of having your name and number listed in the

Yellow Pages– Meta tags increase the chances of your site appearing in

search results– Spiders and robots search the Web for new sites

periodically– You can register with some search engines free of charge– Search engine optimization (SEO) increases the possibility

that your page will appear as a search result

Chapter 7: Promoting and Maintaining a Web Site 18

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Online Promotional Techniques

Search Tool Submission Services– Business that will register

your site with multiple search engines

– Pick one that registers your site with the most frequently used search tools

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Your Turn! (page 193)Exploring Paid or Sponsored Placement Online Advertising

1. Visit the Web Design Chapter 7 Online Companion Web page (scsite.com/web3e/ch7/ ) and click links in the Your Turn section to review three paid or sponsored advertising programs:

a. Google Adwords

b. Yahoo! Small Business Search Advertising

c. Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions 

2. Assume that you are part of the design and development team for a midsized e-commerce company. Your manager instructs you to recommend a paid or sponsored placement program for the company. Using your research, draft a recommendation based on price, services offered, and other significant program features and submit it to your instructor.

Note: A table in Word, or a spreadsheet in Excel, might be the easiest way to do the comparisons.

Online Promotional Techniques

Affiliate Programs– Advertiser pays a fee

on sales generated by visitors driven to the site by links on publishers

– Affiliate management networks• DoubleClick

Performics

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Online Promotional Techniques

Link Exchange Programs Reciprocal Links

– Two Web site owners informally agree to put a link to each other’s site on their Web pages

– Link exchange sites allow you to choose other sites with which you can exchange reciprocal links

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Online Promotional Techniques

Online Advertising Networks– Brings together companies that want to purchase

online advertising and companies that want to sell ads on their sites

– Banner ads and Sidebar ads• Click-through

– Pop-up ads and pop-under ads– Floating ads, Flash movie ads, and rich media ads

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Web-Based Marketing

Banner Advertising– Intent is to motivate viewers to click the ad, which

takes them to an advertiser’s Web site• Two methods of fee determination

– Click-through – number of times ad clicked– Impression – viewing of Web page on which banner ad is

placed

– Banner Exchange Sites• Similar to link exchange sites• Usually a free service

Online Promotional Techniques

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Banner ad’s linktarget page

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Floating ad

Online Promotional Techniques

Web-Industry Awards– Winners’ pages are

featured on the sponsoring site

– Beneficial to Web sites only if they come from a credible source• Webby Award• Web Marketing Associ

ation

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Online Promotional Techniques

Opt-in E-mail Advertising– Also called permission-based e-mail advertising– Recipient must formally agree to receive

advertising– The recipient gets information he or she wants,

and the advertiser can send a targeted message– Unsolicited e-mail advertising is called spam

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Online Promotional Techniques

E-Mail Newsletters and Mailing Lists– Have potential to market your Web site easily– Inform visitors of new products and services– Newsletter should be personable, engaging, and

free of errors• Always provide a way to unsubscribe from the e-mail

newsletter

– Mailing list collection of e-mail names and addresses given a single name• LISTSERVs – named given to lists, well-known mailing

list software product

Traditional Promotional Methods

Word of mouth– Telling people about your site

Print– URL appears on printed materials

Promotional Items– Magnets, coffee mugs, coasters, pens, etc.

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Web Site Maintenance and Evaluation Ongoing Maintenance, Updating, and Retesting Evaluating Web Site Performance

– Add changing, timely content– Check for broken links, and add new links– Document the last reviewed date on Web pages– Include a mechanism for gathering user feedback,

and act on that feedback– Identify benchmark and resource Web sites– Evaluate and implement new technologies– Retest site features periodically

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Maintaining and Updating the Web Site

Steps for updating1. Download the desired Web page from the server

to your computer

2. Update the downloaded Web page

3. Load the Web page into a browser and check the changes and the page display

4. If the changes and the page display are acceptable, then upload the updated page to the server

Web Site Maintenance and Evaluation

Evaluating Web Site Performance– Benchmarking– Web server log analysis

• Web server log analysis software

– Web analytics (also called Web metrics)• Unique vs. repeat visitor• Page views – determines page popularity• Click-stream analysis – how a visitor moves through a

site• Conversion rate – rate at which a visitor becomes a

buyer of site’s products or services

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Indicators reported by most web log analyzers Number of visits and number of unique visitors Visits duration and last visits Authenticated users, and last authenticated visits Days of week and rush hours Domains/countries of host's visitors Hosts list Number total page views Most viewed, entry and exit pages Files type OS used Browsers used Robots HTTP referrer Search engines, key phrases and keywords used to find the analyzed web site HTTP errors Some of the log analyzers also report on who's on the site, conversion tracking and

page navigation.

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Chapter Summary

Explain how to test a Web site before it is published Describe how to publish a Web site to a Web server Identify ways to promote a published Web site Discuss the importance of maintaining and evaluating

a published Web site

Chapter 7: Promoting and Maintaining a Web Site 34

Case Study # 7

Case Study Page 209Do steps 1-5 test, publish, and promote your

own Web site.See assignment web page for details.

Web Design,3rd Edition

7Promoting andMaintaining a Web Site