Website Goals
By Gene DeFazzio

A website should serve the useful purpose of communicating ideas and emotions which in turn should evoke a positive and specific response from the visitor.

No matter how great the graphics might be or the navigation scheme or the flowery words, the success of your website will depend on how concisely, clearly and effectively you present your ideas.

To become an effective webmaster you must understand some basic concepts.

1) The mechanics of creating a website. How to understand and write the HTML code for internet web pages, creating and optimizing your website graphics and understanding page layout and navigation.

2) The ability to express your ideas well. Organize your material for presentation, this is the backbone of a website. Analyze the audience and adapt your ideas and the arrangement of information in a way that they will understand.

3) Constant study of the feedback from your visitors.

Listen carefully and appreciatively to the things that your visitors are saying. Remember that your website is intended for them. Your personal feelings should never take precedence over what your visitors are looking for.

Summary

Just as in music a knowledge of the technique of playing an instrument may deepen ones appreciation, so, too, in website design a knowledge of the tools used to produce the website is essential to the constant improvement of ones skill as a webmaster.

Equally important is learning the skills necessary to drive your ideas home. After all, your website is a vehicle for expressing information in such a way as to persuade the visitor to respond in a certain way. Wether it is the dissemination of information or the selling of a product, the way your ideas are expressed will make or break the success of your website and it's message.

Your visitors will tell you things about your website that might have eluded you. That great navigation scheme you conjured up may not be as user friendly as you think. Maybe some ideas that you are trying to convey are really not as clear as they should be or worse still not targeted to the type of visitors coming to your website. Listen to the feedback. It can mean the difference between success and failure.