Web design with Google Page Creator
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Written by Robert on April 11, 2008 – 6:51 pm
When you sign up for a domain with Google Apps, you get your own start page. This page enables the workers in your organization to share files and communicate. But what about interested people who want to find out more about you on the Web?
When you obtain a domain name, it makes sense to create a Web page or a fullfledged Web site to accompany it. Designing Web sites can be a technically demanding undertaking. But it doesn’t need to be. Page Creator takes the hard steps out of creating a Web site and getting your words and images online. And not only that, it’s free not only for Google Apps users but those who have only a Gmail account.
The only price you pay for Page Creator is the agreement that you’ll display small Ad- Sense advertisements on your pages that have been created by Google. In return, you get a user-friendly interface that lets you assemble Web pages without having to know HTML or other code.
You get up to 100MB of Web storage space for images and other files. When you head to the mall or the department store, you need a list. When you start creating Web pages, a list comes in handy, too. Page Creator makes the mechanics of assembling Web pages so easy that you can focus on planning and architecting your site.
Creating a Visual Site Map
When you start planning your site, you probably think first about what you have to talk about or what you want to say. It helps to flip your perspective around and think about your Web site from the end user’s perspective. The more text a page contains, the more a reader has to navigate to find a particular bit of information.
Each page should address one subject and make its point quickly. It might make sense to have different sections on different pages, like separating chapters in a book, or a list of current projects from a mission statement, for example. One of the first Web page design issues you need to resolve is how to interlink the various pages in your Web site. Links are the Internet equivalent to roads, with the text representing the link serving as the road signs.
They take the user from one place to another and guide a visitor not only around your Web site, but from your site to related sites, and back again. On the page at http://literarychicago.googlepages .com/, for example, it made sense to list links to the other pages at the bottom of the home page, because I want visitors to read through the content and get to the bottom. But I didn’t feel it necessary to have the other pages link to each other because they are about very different subjects. You might prefer to have links at the top if your priority is to steer visitors to the page on your site that interests them the most and you don’t mind them leaving your home page quickly.
How to draw up your site’s organization?
Create a map or list of your home page and the pages within it, showing how they link to one another.
How to create your main pages?
Start small, with three or four pages that will function as your Web site’s core pages.
How to create a product catalog?
Once you have your main pages, you can e-commerce create individual pages to describe any goods or services you offer.
Should I provide contact information?
Yes. Create a Google account that visitors can use to contact you, or a Web page with more specific contact information such as phone numbers.
Try out your Web site…
Be the first visitor to your site. Test your pages to make sure they load quickly and everything works the way you want.
Spread the word?
Use AdWords, the Directory, and search engine optimization to market your Web site.
Create a community!
Your site will be really successful if you attract loyal customers, visitors, or clients. Provide them with newsletters or other information and give them a way to talk back through a blog.
Advantages for keeping my site updated?
You’ll keep visitors coming back to your site by updating your content periodically.
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