Final Steps
Once you have chosen your Web site design tools and have
completed the layout for your templates, it is time to populate your
pages. Although we will not spend any time in this article
discussing the creation of effective content, we would be remiss if
we did not at least mention the topic. Creating good content for
your Parish Web site entails more than simply converting hard copy
articles into electronic copy. We highly recommend that you study at
least the basics of creating effective content for the internet
before you populate your Parish Web site.
Once you have populated your site, there are at least a
couple of other steps you should take before you go live with your
Parish Web site.
View in Multiple Browsers
Unfortunately, not all browsers are created equal.
Currently, the two most popular browsers, Netscape Navigator and
Microsoft Internet Explorer, will present the same HTML at least
slightly different. In fact, older versions of the same
browser may display differently. Therefore, you should have at least
the most recent and prior two versions of both of the browsers
mentioned above, with which to view your Parish Web site before you
go live.
It is also a good idea to view your site with America
Online's proprietary browser, given that AOL is far and away the
largest ISP in the world. It is safe to assume that a large number
of your site visitors will be AOL subscribers, so it is helpful to
at least know what they will be seeing when they look at your site
(even if you are not planning on changing your site's design to
accommodate the quirky AOL browser).
The more browsers you are able to use to view your Parish
Web site, the more likely you will be to address compatibility
issues. And the more compatible your site is across multiple
browsers, the less likely you will be to alienate visitors.
Sleep On It
The absolute final thing you need to do before publishing
your Parish Web site to the internet is... sleep on it. That's
right, sleep on it! The unconscious mind is an incredible thing, and
the Lord has been known to speak to people when they least expect
it.
Even though the internet supports easily changing your
Parish Web site and/or its content, we do not recommend making major
renovations very often. We especially advise against making major
changes during the first couple of months that your Parish Web site
is online. If you are consistent in the beginning, you are much more
likely to gain a reputation as a well-planned, professional site.
This perception builds trust. And if the people visiting your Parish
Web site trust you, it gives your message much more credibility.
Thus it is that we advise you to sleep on it. Wake up the
next day and try to take one last look at the finished product with
fresh eyes. Make sure that you really examine any questions or ideas
that come to mind. You are better off making changes now, rather
than later.
Wrapping Up the Building Stage
Armed with a well-thought plan and a good design tool, you
will be ready to build your Parish Web site. This article has simply
scratched the surface of the building phase, though. In future
articles, the ParishWebmaster will discuss all of the elements
involved with building your site in much greater detail, including
using tables, crafting doorway pages and "how-to" articles
on using specific Web site design software.
In the next article of this series, we will look at what
you need to do after your Parish Web site has gone live. The phrase
made popular by the movie Field of Dreams, "If you build
it, they will come," does not hold true on the internet. There
are thousands of good Web sites out there that get virtually no
traffic whatsoever. We will spend some time reviewing the various
ways you can promote your site, drive new traffic to it and bring
back visitors again and again. |
