Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jamaica feature on Entrepreneurship

Think of the Web sites you personally consider 'good' Chances are that at least some of them don't include the most state-of-the-art technology; they may not be the most visually attractive sites on the web. But they likely are well designed, with helpful information that you can find easily.

All useful Web sites are based on quality content and supported by helpful information architecture and sound technical infrastructure. To draw people to even the best designed spot on the Internet, a Web site must also be actively marketed and promoted.

On a small Web site, one or two people, or even a collection of part-time resources may perform all these functions. A large Web site will require dedicated personnel with specialized expertise. When building a Web site team, keep the following in mind:

• A Web site should be managed by a web-savvy editor, who knows what your target readers want, and understands content design;
• Because web surfers are almost time-pressed and have many choices for their information sources on the Internet, information architecture skills are vital to your team: your content must be well structured so visitors can quickly find and easily read what they're seeking;
• Even if you can capably construct your content, don't underestimate your need for technical support, particularly in the area of web security.

What You Need to Know

Why should an editor run a Web site?

Regardless of your industry, e-commerce means selling with content. If the content isn't right, the customer won't buy. Assembling and organizing your site's content is not a technical issue but an editorial one. A capable editor ensures that the right content is being created (or acquired), and that it is being edited, organized, presented and published correctly. In this role, the editor performs a critical quality control function, setting up processes to obtain and present useful information while rejecting poor content. Quality Web sites get the right content up quickly in a way that is easily accessible to site visitors.

What is"information architecture?"

The term information architecture refers to the design and processes relating to how content is organized and presented. In essence, information architecture relates to the many decisions underlying how a site's users will find what they're looking for, including classification of information, navigation, search, layout, and design of the Web site. Maintaining the information architecture for a small Web site is a relatively simple job but is far more complex for larger Web sites. Another factor that can complicate a site's information architecture, even for a small site, how dynamic is the information. In other words, how frequently is the information on the site changing.

What technical resources do I need to support a Web site?
Even relatively simple Web sites reflect several important technical issues—some of them not immediately apparent. A Web site that doesn't load quickly or isn't consistently available to your customers is of little use. Technical resources necessary to all sites include the capacity to deploy the underlying programming in HTML, PHP, JAVA and the other related languages of the web; systems administration to keep your site up and available; and, of course, security—which is an important issue, especially if you conduct e-commerce on your site or use it to collect information from your visitors. Any site engaged in e-commerce requires attention to sophisticated security concerns.

What to Do
Specify Your Business Requirements
To design and execute a Web site that's effective for your business, it is essential to establish the business requirements for it, and then to manage how these requirements are being met. Begin by asking a most fundamental question: What is the Web site supposed to achieve? If your site is modeled on a traditional print publication, it will need to generate revenue through advertising and subscriptions—each of which have technical and support implications. Most Web sites, however, exist to support the sale of the organization's products and to promote its brand.

Scope the Breadth and Depth of Your Web site

The number of people and the level of skills you need to run your Web site depends on how ambitious your aims are for the site. The larger the site, the more complex it is, the more information changes, the more transactions you expect to accommodate, the more people and sophisticated skills you're going to need.

Form an Editorial Board

Consider creating an editorial board within your organization to focus on the information aspects of your Web site, establishing the content objectives and overseeing their implementation. All the main departments and sections of your organization should be represented, with senior managers involved directly.

Understand the Managing Editor's Role

The overall charge of running your Web site should be given to a single individual, with an editorial background. The Managing Editor should:

• Manage the site's content: deciding what type of information is to be published, where it is to come from, and how often it is to be updated;
• manage the staff: with responsibility for hiring, training, motivating, assessing, coaching, and rewarding
• champion the visitor: making sure that the Web site focuses on and serves its target constituencies, encouraging and making use of feedback from site visitors;
• promote the Web site within the organization, notably to senior management and key managers associated with the brand(s) the site exists to serve;
• report to management on a regular basis, tracking key success indicators such as total number of unique site visits, how much time people spent on the site, and what they did while visiting the sites;
• ensure that the Web site is achieving its objectives and evolving to meet changing needs.

Employ A Site Editor
Among other things, the editor should:

• commission and purchase content to support the site's mission, making sure that it is delivered on time and within budget;
• edit the acquired content so that it meets the site's editorial standards (as determined by the Managing Editor and Editorial Board). The editor is responsible for assuring that the information on the Web site clearly communicates its subject matter and is well written. The editor should check all content for libel and compliance with other legal issues; and make sure the metadata for each content page is correct; and review published content to make sure that it appears as intended;
• publish the content: deciding what is to appear on the site and what is not. The editor should decide, in conjunction with the managing editor, what content should be highlighted on the site's home page and which content should be relegated to other sections of the Web site; the editor also makes judgments about the relative import and relevance of items in sections of the Web site where information is subject to change and updating;
• manage writers: content for the site may come from many people in the organization for whom writing is only a small part of their job, so they likely will require training and perhaps motivation to complete their assignments. In dealing with full- or part-time writers, the editor also will have responsibility for hiring, assessing, and coaching and rewarding these employees and contractors;
• champion the visitor/reader: understanding what readers want and responding to their needs with appropriate and engaging content noting and replying to feedback from site visitors.

Find A Writer
In addition to having an ability and enthusiasm for competent and engaging writing, writers should come to the job with an innate sense of curiosity. They should be able to learn about subject matter with which they may not have had previous experience, and suggest content ideas for the site to the editor.

Build A Pool of Contributors
A contributor is person who provides content to the Web site on an occasional basis. A contributor may be an employee within your organization or may be a freelance writer outside it.

Employ A Production Assistant
In larger operations where the writer is not responsible for adding the metadata to the content, production assistants ensure that the content gets to the editor quickly with all the appropriate metadata.

Employ A Copy editor
Copy editors check the work of others for the accuracy of spelling, grammar, and metadata. They ensure that the content is the right length and rewrite where appropriate.

Source BNET courtesy of Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jamaica www.yeajamaica.com