Finding Your Place on the Web
Finding Your Place on the WebBefore you begin to think about the kind of site you’re going to build (either for yourself or for your organization), you should consider each of the following questions carefully. Doing so can help you target your site to an appropriate audience and prepare yourself for the work ahead.
Consider your content:
What is the content going to be on your site? Is it unique?
How often will you be updating this content?
Are there any other sites that already do what you want to do? If so, how will you differentiate your site?
Consider the early explosion of sites during the dot-com boom. At one point, more than five pet sites were all trying to hawk their wares to users. Only one survived, and that was because it was a traditional retailer first. Market saturation is a sure way to spell doom for your venture, so be sure to check out the competition first!
Select a format and interface:
In what formats will your content be delivered? Will you just use text and graphics, or will you also need animation and/or forms that respond to user input?
Know your audience:
What audience or audiences are you trying to reach with this content?
Do they need or want it?
Is there any other place they can get this content already?
What are the demographics and technical capabilities of this audience?
