Making an Appearance on the Internet

Creating a corporate web presence is becoming a must-have for all serious businesses
the world over; it is an organisation’s shop front on the global digital high street.
Whether small or large, decorated or plain, it is important to have a foot in the door of
the new market that is the Internet. This may seem a daunting challenge, but what is
there really to an Internet site? It matters not what the purpose is for, nor indeed if the
site is to be commercial or personal, the fundamental issues are still the same, and the
approach similar, even if the intricacies and peculiarities of the commercial site may
be more.

There are essentially five components to any website – corporate or private:

• A Vision
• A Design
• A Plan
• An Implementation
• Reviews

The first four components are mandatory; a vision must be articulated and captured as
a foundation stone for all other activities. A real-world empathetic design must be
created to arbitrate between reality and the aspirations of the vision, while a plan must
be devised to realise the design through some actions which constitute the
implementation of the design. The last component, "Reviews" is not mandatory,
however, because the world is changing as we speak, a website that does not evolve
soon becomes, relatively speaking, a dinosaur. Proactive organisations should plan
for an d manage change, rather than adapt after the change has been foisted upon
them. It is worthwhile elaborating on the components of the task.

The Vision
Essentially this is a simple English description of the idea that is the inspiration for
the website; what was the bright idea that this website is being set up to realise? This
simple sentence (better a sentence rather than a paragraph) should capture the crux of
the website in very straight terms. It is the chief cornerstone, everything else aligns
to, or builds upon this foundation, so it is important to get it right and to keep it
simple so that others can understand it too, which is vital if they are going to help
realise it. Examples of vision statement include the following:

• I need to project myself to the international film industry and fans worldwide
http://aboutgenevieve.com
• We need to raise our profile and find partners in the global business community
http://www.adenijikazeem.com
• The company is keen to promote itself as a pre-eminent force in its sector
http://www.oracle.com
http://www.cliffordchance.com
• Our company has a service and will like to find clients/buyers outside our locality
http://www.afronegro.com

The Design
Having captured the vision for the website, there is a need to translate that vision into
blueprint from which construction of the site can be based. When you are designing
your website you need to balance the interests of the idea with those of the intended
audience/clientelle. Design is the bridge that holds everything together, and if it is
faulty or broken, things fall apart. The key things (among others) to bear in mind are;
• content
• overall feature-set
• use [or not] of graphics,
• text size,
• layout
• interactivity,
• use of colours
• abstract concepts
Allow me to share some secrets of ICT with you. It has been discovered, in Human-
Computer Interaction (HCI) studies, that:
• Most people cannot remember more than seven items on any list
• Reading upper-case letters is harder than reading lower-case letters
• Using a mouse & keyboard is more tedious than using either keyboard/mouse only
• It is easier to read dark text against a light background than vice versa
• People enjoy finding/discovering things if it is easy to do
• etc, etc.

Applying this knowledge to designing the website, it would be best to have no more
than 3-5 major items on any page; of course the primary message of the vision must
be expressed prominently among the first three items on any page. Pictures speak a
thousand words, but not everyone interprets a graphics the same way, so there is a
need to support graphics with text. More than 80% of the world have good eyesight.
However, text should be sized such that most of the remaining 30% can read the
contents of the site without straining – a few sentences in simple dark text against a
light background should do. In arranging the pages, it is good to ensure that the
important things are immediately visible when the page is opened, if visitors need to
scroll down or sideways to see them, the opportunity may be lost. Visitors give a site
less than 10 seconds to make an impact and a connection with them and once they
leave they are most unlikely to ever return.

Most sites will benefit from some interactivity, however limited. The Internet is
about a global village and of the dialogue that is wrapped up in that metaphor, so, a
feedback or request form will go a long way to making visitors feel they can
communicate, should they so desire. It is important to mention here that while the
guideline for colour says dark-text, light-background, as in most of life, there are
exceptions. Sometimes the use of colour is designed to convey a message, and as can
be seen in the website http://www.newnigeria.com the flouting of the guideline is
used to great effect in this site that is an ongoing dirge on the Nigerian situation.
Finally, there is a child in each one of us, and we all like to find out new things, and to
experience validation of our intellect by our ability to work back from a concept to the
intention of its inventor(s). For this reason, it is aesthetically distinguished to refrain
from explicitly stating what the site is all about in text or graphics, but to allow
sufficient pointers and suggestions within them (text and graphics) for the visitor to
experience a mini Eureka moment. A good example can be found at the site
http://www.net-technologies.com where the use of images and supporting text have
been used to imply the many aspects the company’s key competencies i.e. Internet,
Integration and Database consultancy.

The Plan
Having completed the design, this is a good juncture at which to take a brief break to
revise the design against the vision and to ensure that what was designed is consistent
with what the original idea. This is also a good time to look at how long it will take
and how much it will cost to realise the design, to relate these to any market window
that may exist for the product/service/person, the market situation and other factors.
This is a good reality checkpoint in the project; no money has been spent, and not
much effort has been expended, a decision to quit now is not very expensive, but past
this point and it begins to hurt. Where the decision is taken to carry on, the next
activity can be as cheap and as quick as the sponsors decide, and all participants enjoy
the reward of getting "closure" on having gone all-the-way.

The Implementation
Most people will not believe it when I say that the really hard part of the job is done,
but that is true. The vision is the most precious thing; the book of life states that a
people perish for want of a vision, more less individuals, groups or organisations.
Furthermore, converting a vision into a blueprint and a plan of action that others can
relate to and participate in is no mean task. With those two in the bag,
implementation should be denominated mostly in effort and expenditure, depending
on how grandiose the design is. The key components here are:
The web address
The web platform
The content (text and graphics)
Program code
It is always best to try to grab the most suitable name for a vision at the next possible
opportunity i.e. to get to a computer within the next couple of minutes, get on the
Internet, go to one of the domain registrars, and acquire the domain name. Time is of
the essence and buying a name direct from a registrar is much, much cheaper than
buying it from a reseller who suspects that there could be an opportunity for
exploitation here. Once the name has been acquired, the owner thereon has exclusive
access and control of the email and web sites derived from that name. The web
platform consists of the hardware or server on which the pages of the website and data
for the emails will be held, and the Software that will be used to maintain the website
and email host, as well as the configuration of both systems. These items are usually
bought together as a package from service providers for as little as USD $5 a month,
but scaling up to several thousands of USD per month, depending on needs, and some
providers will throw in some website templates for free.
Once the platform is configured, the next thing will be to get the content (the actual
web pages with their graphics, text and html files on to the platform. The service
provider would have given some credentials and general advice for connecting to the
platform via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to upload the files from the local machine to
the web platform. The final cog in this wheel is the optional program code that will be
required to facilitate any interactivity or business process(es) within the website, here
again it is possible to find freeware that already implements the necessary function(s),
or to buy cheap off the shelf program code to provide the function(s).

Keeping Things Fresh

Revising your site – vision, design, implementation periodically
The singer Bob Marley said in one of his songs that “… nothing can stop the time …”
The world is changing even as you read this article; nothing stays the same. The same
is true for a website that is the representation of a living thriving human being, group
of people, organisation, institution or government. In the exceptional case that
nothing has changed on the ground, it is still wise to revise the site to convey the
dynamism of continuing existence to visitors; every site should be reviewed at least
once a year, even if the conclusion is that no change is immediately needed.
The Crux of the Matter
To conclude; a website is your face or shop-front on the Internet and if you have an
interest in image projection, this is a medium that is worth considering, due to its
reach, accessibility and availability. Projecting an image requires activity in five
component areas, by layering and inter-relating the components, it is possible for any
person, group or organisation to achieve a respectable representation within budget
and schedule – and you don’t need any special skills to do it.

For those with an interest in the visual aspects (especially) of website design, there is
an excellent article on a discipline of website design written by a chap named Paul
Ockendon; it can be found at the following URL:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/50791/website-design.html

Lanre Oyewole is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Internet Technologies Ltd. in

the UK and Nigeria and has been in ICT practice and consultancy for over ten years.
He is currently working with the UK Police IT Organisation (PITO) on legacy
database reverse-engineering and the practicalities of sharing information between
police forces.
lanre@net-technologies.com
AboutGenevieve

AdenijiKazeem
Oracle

CliffordChance
AfroNegro

NewNigeria
Internet Technologies Ltd. – nettech

Oyewole, Olanrewaju J (Mr.)

Chief Technology Officer
Internet Technologies Ltd
66 Nithdale Road
London SE18 3PD
United Kingdom
cto@net-technologies.com
www.net-technologies.com
Phone: +44 (0) 208 465 7766
Mobile: +44 (0) 793 920 3120