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| DCS Webnews
Do It Yourself Websites |
 Dear Dan,
Hi, and welcome to another edition of DCS Webnews - the quarterly newsletter for subscribers and customers of DCS Websites. In this issue we're going to examine the pros and cons of "Do It Yourself" websites.
Of course, we've all seen the ads on TV and in pop-up windows as we surf the web. They all vary a little, but it generally goes something like this:
"Try our super-duper amazing website builder and your company can have a professionally designed and customized website up and running in only 15 nano-seconds!!"
So what's the real story? Are these products legit, or is it just a bunch of hooey?
Also in this issue we introduce a new section called "Website Spotlite". Here we will bring attention to one particular website that has caught our eye. It could be a long-time client, a brand new customer, or some other site of general interest.
Regards,
Dan Desroches
President, DCS Websites LLC |
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Building a DIY Website |
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"How much will the website cost?" It's the first question asked by business owners at every initial meeting with a new client or prospect.
Most owners realize that in today's world you really must have a website, even if you don't sell anything online. You still need to have a presence on the web in order to provide information about your products and services, your contact information, answers to frequently asked questions, etc.
Sure, you can advertise in the Yellow Pages, but in todays online society, most people let their fingers do the walking on their keyboard BEFORE (or even instead of) the phone book. Any company that doesn't have a website is missing out on the millions of potential customers who search the web every day.
Although they recognize the need for a website, business owners, who are generally pretty smart people, are always looking for ways to save a buck. It's one of the traits that made them successful in the first place. And so, in an attempt to avoid the expense of hiring a professional website designer, they start looking at various methods of building a do-it-yourself (DIY) website.
But what methods are available, and do they deliver on the promises mentioned in their advertisements?
Fill In The Blanks
Perhaps the most popular type of DIY Site is what I call a "fill in the blanks" website. These generally require that you establish a subscription-based account with the website provider. Your subscription will likely include a "free" domain name, basic website hosting, and access to their website building software.
In order to build your website, you fill in a sequence of web-based input forms that allow you to choose the overall layout of your web pages, and enter the content (text and graphics) to appear on each page. While these sites do allow you to get a site up and running very fast, they generally have rather simplistic designs that don't support advanced features such as Flash animations, e-commerce or databases. In addition, achieving high search engine rankings is often impossible, making changes sometimes means starting from scratch, and it is even questionable who "owns" the domain name. DCS recommends: Avoid these websites like the plague, and save your pennies until your business can afford a "real" website.
Save As Web Page
Many office applications such as word processors and desktop publishing programs have the ability to save a document as a web page. This is a nice feature when you just want to create a single page or an advertisement for publishing over the web, but it's not meant (and shouldn't be used) for creating a complete business web site. In most cases these applications create HTML code that is not compliant to industry standards, doesn't render consistently on all browsers and platforms, and does not work well with search engines. DCS recommends: Use them for their intended purpose, but not for your website.
Website Templates
There are website templates available online that can fill virtually any need and any type of business (see the related article below). The main difficulty is in finding the right one due to the vast selection. Most of the designs are programmed by professional website designers, so they often result in quite attractive sites. They are generally inexpensive - often an investment of less than $100 will get you a complete working website.
Of course you still need to acquire a domain name, arrange for hosting your site, and integrate your contents into the site. Plus, if your list of web pages doesn't match what is delivered with the template, the edits can be quite tricky. As a result, a prerequisite of most templates is that you have access to an experienced webmaster or website designer to complete the deployment of your new site. People without a solid understanding of HTML and website principles will generally have a difficult time using most templates.
Another consideration is that templates are often sold to multiple companies, so you never know when you'll run into another site that looks just like yours. DCS recommends: If you have the required web-related skills, and you're unconcerned that another company could be using the same design, then templates could work well for you. Otherwise, hire a professional to design and build a custom site for you.
Pre-Built Business Applications
From a website point of view, pre-built business applications are quite similar to Fill-in-the-blanks websites. They share many of the same features, both good and bad. However, these sites typically include a certain amount of work-flow processing that is geared toward a particular industry or type of business.
For example one business owner I met was using an application that was programmed to support his office supplies company. It was essentially a fill-in-the-blanks website, that included modules for purchasing, inventory control, order processing, shipping, and all major accounting functions. In this particular instance, the negative aspects of the system were probably outweighed by the fact that it did a reasonably good job of helping him run his day-to-day business.
While applications such as this can provide an effective solution to both your website needs and your work-flow processing requirements, they still suffer from most of the disadvantages associated with a fill-in-the-blanks website. And of course, the down side can be felt even more acutely as now it has the potential to affect not just your web presence, but the very core of your business processing model. DCS recommends: The right one could save you a tremendous amount of time and money over the long haul. But do your homework carefully before committing. Once you're in, it can be very difficult to exit gracefully. |
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About Website Templates
 One popular method of creating a DIY website is to purchase a web design "template". There are literally thousands of websites that offer templates. With just a few clicks you can find templates that feature fancy Flash intro's, templates that include e-commerce capabilities, templates that are designed for a particular type of business, or just regular, plain-vanilla, generic website templates. In fact DCS even has a site, aptly named DCS Templates (clever huh?), where users can browse and buy website templates.
However, while templates can be useful in helping to minimize the costs of designing a website from scratch, the money saved is often consumed rather quickly by the extra time it takes to integrate your content into the pre-existing design. It's like trying to stuff a size-10 foot into a size-8 shoe. It can be done, but first you have to make some "alterations".
Like most DIY solutions, templates have built-in limitations (I refer to them as "walls") within the code or layout of the design. These walls are a natural result of designing a website before you know what type of content is to be presented. Furthermore, the walls are invisible until you attempt to incorporate your content into the design. That's when the walls appear and the time- (i.e. money-) consuming process of trying to find paths around the walls begins.
Like most professional web designers, DCS focuses on identifying the type of content to be delivered before creating our custom designs. That way we can place the walls where they will enhance, rather than inhibit, the content being delivered.
Code - Many web template designers do not use search-engine friendly code. Be especially aware of templates created entirely in Flash. Search engines cannot spider content in Flash sites so if you go this route, you will inevitably have miserable search engine results.
Compatibility - The template you buy may not display the same in different browsers or on different platforms.
W3C Compliance - The W3C sets the standards for how web pages are coded. Many template designers and developers do not adhere to these standards.
Usability - It is important to follow current best practices on where certain items should be placed. (Your logo should always be presented at the top left hand side.) Many web templates do not follow these important conventions.
Navigation - The navigation of templates rarely fit your actual needs so again, you need to redesign that portion of the template.
In short, website templates are a mirage. At first, it appears they'll save you a good deal of money because they're essentially pre-built websites. But as you get closer and attempt to integrate your content into the design, your savings start to disappear as you encounter walls and other barriers. |
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Website Spotlite
East Coast Home Inspections, LLC
Buyer Beware! We've all heard that phrase countless times, and it's never more relevant than when you're buying a new home. But there's no need to let stress and anxiety lessen the joy and excitement associated with the purchase of your new home. An inspection by East Coast Home Inspections is just what you need to give you that warm and fuzzy feeling.
East Coast Home Inspections, which is owned and operated by Mark Roy of Enfield CT, has been inspecting area properties for over a dozen years. Their experience helps them to quickly identify potential problem areas, and their commitment to quality customer service is exemplary.
About Their Site
One of the earliest sites developed by DCS, it is a great example of a site derived from a pre-designed template. During the project, we did encounter a few "walls", and other issues such as those mentioned above, but with a little bit of clever programming we were able to overcome the obstacles rather quickly.
Although the design of the pages included several fixed-size sections, we used a technique called "inline frames" to present a variable amount of scrollable text within these sections.
The design also included several Flash animations, but the pages themselves are actually coded in standard HTML. And, while the main menu is coded in Flash, we added text navigational links at the bottom of each page to help ensure that search engines would be able to locate all associated pages.
The result is an attractive website that successfully and seamlessly integrates a variable amount of content into a dynamic, pre-built web page template.
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