buznutt

What is a web site? Do you need to ask? I mean, doesn’t everyone know?

You can’t hardly go anywhere without having half a dozen web sites come up and hit you in the face. The web is all over, and what’s on it is web sites.

Shopping, social networking, YouTube, eBay, government stuff, craigslist, churches, blogs. All kinds of stuff. Is this a real question?

Maybe, if you stop to think. What is a web site, really?

We’re used to seeing web sites and don’t think about them any more. A web site is a location, and an object, and a service.

Location: An address, the thing you type in, the URL. That takes you there. Not a real place, but an address inside some computer where things begin to whir and clank when you come calling.

Object: You see something, whatever it is. Like turning a corner in your car and there’s a building, a big one. A web site is like that, even if it’s only colored light. It looks real.

OK, so number three then. A service. You want it to do something for you. It does this by interacting with you.

To sum up: a web site is a place you can go and see things by poking around, and get something done. Even though you’re sitting at your desk or at home, or in a coffee shop.

That gives you a lot of power. You are in control and can skip around here and there. Whenever and wherever you want, which is good.

On the other hand, if you own the web site, if you want people to come and check you out, if you want to do business, you want people to linger.

You want them to read what you have to say, or hear it, or watch it, or buy something, or send you a note, or at least write down your address so they can come by in person. And actually spend money.

And that gets a little harder. Netcraft’s September 2008 Web Server Survey showed 181,277,835 sites. Four and a half million new ones between August and September 2008.[1] That is competition.

It’s no longer enough to type a few words on a home page, color the background bright orange, add a few flashy things and sit back. You have competition. You need a message and an identity.

As with all business it’s who you are that really counts. Hey, that pretty well describes life too. Who you are, what you’ve got to offer, how you treat people. Whether you’re able and willing to do that little bit extra. Whether you stand behind your words.

The real stuff.

But that comes after you have a decent web site. Something that looks professional yet homey. Comfortable but crisp. Easy to use but endlessly delightful.

And that doesn’t happen by chance.

Copyright © 2008 - 2011 by Dave Sailer

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