|
Learn
about POWER
INVESTOR, the screening software I recommend in my
books. It costs only $99 but tracks more stocks and funds
than MetaStock ($929) and Window on Wallstreet ($704). |
Articles
Does
Your Site Need a Design Pro?
by Jason Kelly
3/30/2002
Anybody who's read my books or spent much time on this website
knows that I'm a big believer in self-reliance. One of my
books even has "do-it-yourself" in the title. In The
Neatest Little Guide to Making Money Online, I show how
easy it is to design a perfectly usable website on your own
for little or no money.
You certainly can do so. This site's infancy and childhood
are a testament to that fact. I started JasonKelly.com in
1996. I designed it, maintained it, and helped it evolve through
several redesigns. I used screen captures from the site in
my Making Money Online book and, because of that, kept to
the design for two more years.
I decided in March 2002 that it was time to take the site
to a higher level. The reason was not that its previous form was unusable.
Quite the contrary. Thousands of people had navigated my menu system to read articles,
buy books, and so on. Nobody had complained.
The reason was simply that with my readership growing and my books getting more
publicity, the site needed an overhaul. I am a writer, not a
designer. My books are designed by pros, and it seemed that
my website should be as well. I chose John Bowie of Bowie
Design in Austin, Texas as my designer. I had worked with
John on SnapSheet and was pleased
with his professionalism and the quality of his work.
John listened to my requirements. The site should:
1) Showcase me as an author.
2) Display my books in an appealing manner.
3) Provide an immediate place on the home page for a current
article. I don't like making people fish through an entire
site for useful information. They should get something good
on the home page.
4) Utilize a simple navigation system that appears on every
page.
5) Protect a space on each page where additional links can
be provided for more information.
6) Retain unobtrusive areas of the site where I can occasionally
run ads or otherwise generate revenue.
John succeeded on all counts. Take a look at the following before-and-after
examples:
HOME PAGE
(click
images to enlarge) |
|
 |
 |
| Before:
No clear author identity, cluttered collection of links,
unattractive system fonts. |
After:
Clear author identity with photo, clean interface, attractive
fonts. |
ARTICLES
(click
images to enlarge) |
|
 |
 |
| Before: Random icons to indicate reader interest, cramped listing. |
After: Consistent icons to indicate reader
interest, spacious listing, color bars to help distinguish
one article from another. |
REVIEWS
(click
images to enlarge) |
|
 |
 |
| Before: Too much "dead weight" in long reviews,
no clear attachment to the book being reviewed, little highlighting
to get readers to helpful commentary. |
After: Reviews edited to show the most pertinent
information, each book clearly displayed introducing its collection
of reviews, only the most useful reviews shown and in a way
that makes it easy for readers to understand what people think
of the work. |
While I'm a firm believer in doing it yourself in most cases,
there are times when you need an expert. You don't build your
own car, few people build their own homes, and eventually
you might join me in deciding that you shouldn't build your
own website.
Should you hire an expert designer for your site? Consider
the following points when making your decision:
Does your site generate money?
If it's just a hobby site, then I'd skip hiring a professional.
This site is my main way of staying in touch with readers,
journalists, and the publishing industry. It's important that
the site look good. Money spent on improvements is an investment
in my career.
How much money are you willing to spend?
Even if you make money with your website, you should make
enough to afford a designer. The redesign of this site cost
me about $1000. The cost to redesign yours will differ based
on how big it is, what fancy features you want, and so on.
Figure about $85 per hour.
How comfortable are you with raw HTML?
I wrote in The Neatest Little Guide to Making Money Online
about three graphical site editors: Dreamweaver, Fusion, and
GoLive. The chances of you using the same editor that your
designer uses are small. In my case, I used Fusion and John
used Dreamweaver. If I tried maintaining the new site in Fusion,
the program ruined John's templates. In the end, I returned
to raw HTML editing using the free 1st Page program from Evrsoft.
It was challenging at first, but
I've come to enjoy having complete control over the appearance
of pages. Many tasks are easier in HTML than in a WYSIWYG
("what you see is what you get") editor. For instance,
repeating items in a long table. Copying rows of text in HTML
is much faster than highlighting, copying, pasting, and fixing
in a WYSIWYG editor. Find out from your potential designer
which format he or she will be delivering to you. Decide BEFORE
you begin whether you're willing and able to work with that
format.
How long do you plan to run the site?
Many sites run by individuals or small businesses disappear
after a year or two. If your site is experimental, I suggest
holding off on the professional design. Good ideas will survive
amateur design; bad ideas will not be saved by professional
design. It's best to test your ideas and the longevity of
your site with cheap amateur design, then upgrade to professional
design later if the site warrants it.
If you decide to hire a professional designer, consider John
Bowie. In my many months of working with him
on two sites, he has consistently delivered quality work on
time and on budget, or under time and under budget. What more
can be asked?
You can reach John via his website at www.bowiedesign.com.
Tell him I sent you.
I hope you enjoy the professionally-designed JasonKelly.com!
As with all of my work, I welcome your suggestions for further
improvement.
Return to Articles
|
5–9 reader votes 
10–19 reader votes 
20+ reader votes
