Building a Web Site For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 1. The Zen of Sites

In This Chapter

Creating unity of content Building visitor loyalty Unearthing your personal creativity

“You’re a really good Web designer,” I told a client’s Webmaster once. He shrugged it off and went on to the next topic on the meeting’s agenda. Whether he was just being modest or thought that I was playing corporate politics with cheap compliments, I don’t know. I meant what I said, however, and the reason is simple. It wasn’t that his pages were filled with nice graphics. It wasn’t that the elements were finely balanced. It wasn’t that the JavaScript pop-ups added an involving level of interactivity.

None of these things — neither individually nor in combination — can make a site fly. The reason I was impressed with the Webmaster’s work was because he clearly understood that a Web site isn’t just a bunch of pages that happen to reside on the same server. Building a quality Web site requires careful planning. This chapter introduces you to the basic elements of designing sites, achieving visitor satisfaction, and being creative.