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Advanced
How To Guides
Developing your first website
4.
Get Online before your website Goes Live!
If
you are building a website then your company will have
to be accessible online (e.g. through an email address
at a minimum).
In order to go online for the first time you will need:
- A
computer, with a network card and a modem (usually
built in)
-
A telecommunication connection [an analogue, i.e.
ordinary phone line or an ISDN line or a DSL connection]
-
A connection to the Internet provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP)
- A
Browser, typically Internet Explorer or Netscape
Navigator and email software.
All
of these terms are explained in our Beginners How To Guide called "The
Basics of IT".
Guidance on choosing
an Internet Service Provider is provided in our
"Advanced How To Guide on that topic
The Internet Service Provider that you choose will provide
you with at least one email address, if not more, as
well as an connection to the Internet . They may also
provide hosting facilities i.e. a space on their server
to store your web site. Alternatively you may decide
to allow your web developer to host your site and set-up
your corporate email addresses as it is likely that
as a supplier, the developer will offer a certain amount
of technical support after the site goes live and therefore
will need access to it.
Domain Name Registry
One of the first things that you should do when
developing your website is to register your domain name.
A domain name identifies your website on the Internet ,
just as a phone number identifies your telephone to
the telephone company. It is also sometimes referred
to as a URL (Unique Resource Locator) or as a web address.
An example is www.enterprise-ireland.com. Your domain
name is a very valuable marketing tool and should be
chosen with great care. When a company has gone to the
expense of choosing a domain name and paying a developer
to set up a web site, it should use every means available
[for example on all outgoing documentation such as letters,
invoices, emails, business cards, and so on] to continually
remind customers and potential customers of the URL.
Make sure you keep your registration up to date by paying
the renewal fees on time and that you, and not your
website developer, is the legal owner of your domain
name.
5. Manage the Development Process
In order to manage a website development, you need
to have clear responsibilities, clear deadlines, clear
procedures and an appointed team available to put in
sufficient time to manage this process.
Website Specification
Once the supplier is selected, they should develop
a Website Specification based on your requirements as
set out in the Request for Tender document. You should
be requested to sign this off as official agreement
on the expectations of the development. This is a vital
step in the process and if your supplier does not provide
you with a specification at the outset you must request
one - otherwise there can be mis-understanding about
what the website will deliver.The specification should
also benchmark deliverables and timescales and these
can be used to help you manage the project and ensure
that it is kept on track.
Costs
In order to manage costs, you must agree the final cost
in relation to the specification that you have signed
off. You must be clear that no additional or hidden
costs will arise in the delivery of the agreed specification.
This must form the basis of your contract to appoint
the supplier.
Meetings
Regular meetings should be held with the development
team and ready access and availability will be essential
between the suppliers project manager and the company's
project manager.
Testing
As the site nears completion begin testing the site.
Many developers have extranets that allow you to view
the site as it is being developed. This means that,
using a password given to you by the web developer,
you can view the site over the Internet , but that, until
you are happy with the final product, it remains invisible
to anyone without the necessary password. As the site
nears the end of development get a group of testers
together and get them to look at the site, particularly
looking out for broken links, typos and images that
are not showing. Can they find all the information on
the site easily? Do they have difficulty with any part
of the site? For a detailed guide on managing an eBusiness
project, which outlines many oif the processes you will
need to adhere to in relation to your website, click
here
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