This applies whether you are developing in-house, or contracting a third party developer. 

I have watched many companies lose the edge because their Internet presence suffered “Death by Committee.”

Cosmetic design is far less important in the beginning than functional design.

There must be a clear chain of command, with the ultimate technical go/no-go authority resting with a single individual, or at the most, two persons. These two persons are The Systems Administrator and The Webmaster.

I compare the positions of Systems Administrator and Webmaster to the management of a newspaper. The Systems Administrator is the physical plant manager. They make sure that the presses are maintained, supplies are ordered, floors are swept and the doors locked at night. The Systems Administrator takes care of the “Techno-Stuff.” They handle backups, connectivity issues, security, hardware and software updates and maintenance. They provide or procure custom programming services (CGI, Java, C++, etc.) and install any custom server software needed. (Discussion Groups, Private Access Directories, Chat, and so on) 

The Webmaster is akin to the Editor of the paper. They are responsible for the “Look and Feel” of the site, content, and editorial management. The Editor coordinates the efforts of writers, photographers, artists, designers, freelancers, printers and the marketing staff.

In most corporations the Webmaster works with a marketing or technical manager to coordinate and assemble the work of the writers, designers and artists and is also the last check for consistency, spelling and accuracy. This is where a few final tweaks and adjustments are usually made to ensure that the document fits within the site format.

In smaller companies, the Webmaster and Systems Administrator are often the same. If your site is being hosted by a third party hosting service, their tech support staff will be your Systems Administrator.

The Sytems Administrator exists to support the Webmaster, not the other way around. Communication between the Sytems Administrator and the Webmaster is critical. If the Webmaster needs to add a feature to the site requiring additional storage space, protocols, programming, software or other systems level work, the Sytems Administrator must respond in a timely manner with anticipated costs and an accurate time frame for completion.

Don't make the mistake of turning the development of your Website over to the IT Department. Yes -- there are exceptions, but usually, all you will have after six months is a conference room wallpapered with 30 x 42 sheets of paper, a lot of charts, graphs, flow diagrams and analyses. You still won't have a working Website!

By nature, most corporate network administrators focus internally, on their companies employees and business partners -- this is good -- that's their job. Public Web Server Administrators and Devlopers, on the other hand, must have an outward focus -- to the broadest range of their end user base. Perhaps Mac Users with Opera are only 2% of your visitor base -- but how many ad agencies would walk over coals to get an additional 2% market share?

Don't get bogged down in insignificant details. Page and font colors, bullet sizes and logo placement are easy to change in a properly crafted and structured Website. Instead, pay critical attention to Content, Structure, Flow, Navigation and Accessibility. The cosmetics can come later.

• NOTE:
    Webmaster is not a sexist term, it is generic across sexes. Because of the somewhat “checkered past” of the Internet, the term “Webmistress” brings up visions of whips, chains, vinyl and leather to many Net veterans and newbies alike. 8^)

Design Your Site In The Following Sequence

1. Statement of Purpose

A Mission Stetement, in 25 Words or Fewer
- It should identify THE single measurable, targeted niche that your website will fill?

While "World Enlightenment" might make a short and noble mission statement, how will you measure results?
A more narrow .. "To raise awareness of our outreach programs in Tanzania among high school students" is something that can be measured.

2 Restate the Question ... Why Are We Doing This? 

• Because Everybody Else Is (A Valid Reason) 
• To Attract New Customers/Visitors From Our Present Market 
• To Expand Into New Markets 
• To Service/Support an Existing Client Base 
• To Support Our Own Staff 
• Increased Name Recognition 
• Cause it'l hit the old geezers at the helm of the competition right in their stodgy old-boy attitude and the pockets at the same time!
• "Cause every buck we spend today will make back two bucks by the end of the year!" (IBM)

3. When Are We Doing It? 

• Set Some Realistic Milestones

4. Who Is My Intended Audience or Market? 
(The Most Obvious AND Often Overlooked Question)

5. What Will Attract Them To My Website? 

6. After They Are There, What Do I Want Them To Do? 

• Remember Us 
• Learn More About Our Business 
• Learn More About Our Industry In General 
• Have Fun 
• Request More Information 
• Call Us
• Ask Us to Call Them 
• Use the Website Instead of Calling Us
• Subscribe to Something 
• Buy Something From Us 
• Sell Something To Us 
• Tell Us Something About Them 
• Tell Someone Else About Us 

7. What Will Keep Them Coming Back?

• "Branding" is a hot topic. You want people to re-visit your site so often that your name/logo/identity gets burned into their brain.
  
  • Think of Soup . . . Campbells
  • Think of Tissue . . . Kleenex

YOU Want to Become the 'Campbell's Soup' of Your Market Niche.

8. How Will We Measure Success? 

• Number of New Visits 
• Number of Repeat Visits
• Sales/Marketing Leads Generated
• Actual Sales Number of Information Requests 
• Visitor Feedback 
• Reduced Client Support Calls/Expense
• Contest Entries

9. Decide Who Will Host Your Site

• In-House Server
  • Install Server and Resolve Connectivity Issues
  • Have a "Pocket Protector Type" Handy
  • Network Costs Can Be High
  • Usually Not Needed Unless "Hot" Database Access and Back End Integration are required.
• A 'Shared Server' at a Third Party Hosting Service
  • From 20.00 to 150.00 per month
  • Reliability and Customer Support Is The Key
  • Since you are on a shared server, security can be an issue.
• A Leased Server at An ISP's Point of Presence
  • From 100.00 to 1,500.00 Per Month
• A Combination of The Above

10. Select and Register Your Domain Name(s)

11. Scratch Out A Basic Site Outline

• Use File Cards for your outline, later to become your site map and wiring diagram.
• Prepare Simple Storyboards using the above file cards

12. Check With The Lawyers

• Do You Need to be Licensed To Advertise Your Products or Services In All States/Countries? (i.e. Insurance Sales, Law, Financial Advisor, etc.)
• Is a contest in compliance with state and federal lottery laws,
• Have you made certain that you are both in compliance with, and protected by applicable copyright and trademark laws.
• Do You Have a Privacy Statement For Your Website?

13. Evaluate Database Access Requirements

14. Evaluate Your Security Considerations

15. Re-evaluate Your Budget

16. Assemble Your Authoring and Utility Software

17. Set Up The Server Directory Structure

18. Build a Skeleton (aka Wireframe) Site

19. Develop an Overall "Look and Feel"

20. Fill In The Details (Content)

21. Run it by The Lawyers in final form.

22 - 998 Test, Fix, Test and Retest and Fix Again

999 - One last check with the lawyers if you made any major changes.

1000. Let The World Know You Exist
Carefully Craft Every Page to Make Maximum Use of Page Content Formatting,, Image Alternate Text, Page Titles, Initial Paragraph Text, Headers and Other Features to Make Your Site Search Engine Friendly.

1001 - Infinity: Update, Refresh, Announce, Update and Refresh, Announce, Again, and Again . . . forever ... until it's time to do it all again, only the right way this time.

Rule: 323,231.5a.1

DON'T LIMIT (frustrate) YOUR VISITORS

Example: (True Incident)

"Design Your Site As If You Were Designing a PowerPoint Presentation to Run on a ten year-old computer with a black and white screen and a noisy dial-up connection."

People Like Pictures!
As surprising as it may seem, people don't enjoy reading lines and lines of text on a computer screen. Special purpose sites excluded, a site with an interersting mix of photos, graphics and text gains a 1200% viewer retention advantage over similar sites that are text alone.

	Add Value to The Internet - Don't Just Repeat What Is Already There
	If All You Want to do is Put Your Brochure On-Line - Don't Expect Results - It's Better than Nothing, But Not Much.
		The Rule of Thumb is 80% Education, Information and Entertainment, and No More Than 20% Marketing. (Utilitarian and Pure Customer Service Websites Excepted)
	Make It Intuitive:
		Try to Avoid Such Things as "Click Here To ..." It Should Be Obvious Where To Click and What Will Happen When You Do.
	Unless You Can't Avoid It, No Single Page, Larger than 128K, Including All Images
	Unless You Can't Avoid It, No Single Graphic Bigger than 32K
	Use the ALT="description" and the HEIGHT/WIDTH Attributes In All Image Containers
		The HEIGHT and WIDTH Attributes "Reserve" Space For Your Images, and Make the Text Portion of The Page Load Quickly.
		DON'T Use them to make big images small, it's still a big file!
		The ALT Attribute Tells Visitors What Is There If They Have Graphics Disabled, and Permits Some Assistive Technology to "Speak" Your Web Page. iow .. The ALT Attribute Helps Make Your Site Accessable By Those With Visual Impaiirments and may be a legal requirement in some situations.
	Use the <META...> Tag to Help the Search Engines Index Your Site
	ADDENDUM: 6 June 2005 META-KEYWORD Tags are no longer as important for the major search engines. Google, for example, no longer uses them. The DESCRIPTION tag, however, is still as important as ever.
		Meta tags provide information about your Web page to some search engines and other programs. There are meta tags for page title, page description, and page keywords. Some search engines include page-title and page-description meta tags in your listing. If your Web page lacks a title tag, the some search results display the phrase "No Title" or "Untitled" in the first line of your listing. To control the title that appears with your listing, add a <TITLE> tag with the title you want to appear. For example: <TITLE>Employee Benefit Information</TITLE> If your Web page lacks a description meta tag, search engines that use META tags generally display the first few words on the page as your listing description. To control the description that appears with your listing, add a meta tag with the keyword "description" and the phrase you want to appear. For example: <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Listing of Acmecorp Benefit Programs."> These tags also influence the ranking of your page for specific search terms. Be sure that your meta tags are within the HEAD of your HTML Document. (ie between the (<HEAD> & </HEAD> tags) Note - The TITLE is also what appears in the visitor's Browser Title Bar when they visit your page and what appears in their Favorites file when they bookmark it. Therefore, always use a descriptive and unique title. For Example: <TITLE>Acme Corporation - Widget Home Page</TITLE> (NOT just "Our Home page")
	Put a Mail To Button On All Pages - NO LONGER RECOMMENDED
		The basic Mailto Tag looks like this: <A HREF="mailto:you@you.xxx">you@you.xxx</A> This, however, exposes your E-Mail address to the automated address harvesting robots used by Spammers.
		To reduce the exposure of your address to such scum, it is best to design a FEEDBACK FORM for users to use in contacting you. If properly designed, your E-Mail will be completely shielded from the Net at large.
	Use Subdirectories to Organize The Content of your Server for Ease of Site Management
	Use Descriptive File Names - All Lower Case, No Spaces and No Punctuation Except the Underscore ( _ ) Character.
		MAC USERS NOTE - NO SPACES and YES the .jpg, .html and other file extensions are required.
		Remember, UNIX/LINUX Is CAse seNSitive
	Provide an HTML Only Site Map.
	If Your Site Relies on Flash Menus or Image Maps, Be Certain to Provide Text Only Alternative Menus.
	There are a Lot of Old Browsers Out There.
		Avoid Making Your Site Dependent on Flash, JAVA or Active-X Controls. If you want to add spice, do so by all means, but don't let it interfere with delivery of content if the visitor doesn't have, or want to turn on some specific browser feature. For a real test, hit your site with LYNX, a text only browser.
	Know When to Use .GIF and When To Use .JPG and .PNG
		.GIF For Simple Graphics
		.JPG For Images With More Than 256 Colors, Or Very "Busy" Images
		When In Doubt, Save Both Ways and See Which is Smaller/ Better
	Portable Net Graphics (.PNG) are fairly well supported by current browsers. Use them when appropriate. They provide many of the advantages of JPG plus transparency.
	Use The Transparency (GIF89a) Property of .GIF Files To Avoid Ugly Borders. Ditto with .PNG Files
	Interlace Your .GIFs and Save JPEGs as Progressive JPEG Files
		They Appear to Load Faster
UPDATED INFORMATION
	Keep The Color Palette as Small as Possible On All .GIF Files and use Websafe colors.
		For a Chart of Web Safe Colors See This Link
	The original Web Safe color concept was intended for those with 16 bit displays, limited to only 256 colors. While there are still a few users out there in that category they represent fewer than 2% of the total clients. (Mostly schools from which many comppanies do not or should nit solicit nor encourage traffic.)
	Avoid "Busy" Backgrounds
		It's Truly Frustrating To Try to Read Fine Text on a Heavily Patterned Background
	1%+ of the Population (Mostly Male) Is Color Blind
		Use Red, Green and Blue Properly Red on Black is particularly troublesome. Keep Your Colors Contrasting. Look at your page in Greyscale. If you have trouble reading it, people printing it in Black and White might have trouble as well.
	PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - Don't Use Blinking Anything
	PLEASE Forget That The  <U> </U> (Undeline)Tag Exists.
		NEVER EVER Underline Anything. Use Bold, Italic Color and/or Size to Emphasize Things, NOT Underlining. Undelining Makes Text Look Like There Is Something To Click When There Isn't! (Teasing your visitors)
	Don't "Force" Visitors to Listen to A Sound File Before the Page Loads
		Give Them the OPTION to Listen - and Link to it rather than Embedding it. Business sites launching a sound file when a visitor hits a page are just plain rude! You know Murphy's Law don't you? At the precise instant your Website starts playing that cute little jingle, your visitor's boss will walk by their cubicle and think they are playing games!
	Use Small Thumbnail Images as "Gateways" to a Larger Image
	All Images Should Be 96dpi (approximately) Better yet ... FORGET The Concept of DPI Altogether- Start Thinking Absolute Pixels and Percentage of screen size.
	Will Wireless, PDA and Cell Phone users need to access your site?
	Don't Use Multi-column Documents Unless They Fit On A Single Screen. It makes the visitor have to scroll down, then back up to continue reading. (Browser Bounce)
	Don't Use The Headline (Header) Tag <H1>....<H6> Merely To Change Font Sizes
		Headers Have a Purpose, to Divide Your Site Into a Logical Outline Format. If You Have an <H4> It Should Be Assumed That There is an <H1>, <H2> and <H3>
	If You Use Anything but the Default Fonts, Make Certain that Mac, PC amd UNIX/Linux Visitors Can View Your Page The Way You Intended.
		Macs Don't Come with the Windows Font Set, They Have Their Own. If You Want a Sans Serif Font, Cover All Your Bases By Including Both the Windows Standard (ARIAL) and the Mac Standard (HELVETICA) and a Generic Font Style. This is done in the <FONT ...> Tag as Follows: <FONT FACE="HELVETICA, ARIAL, SANS-SERIF">
	Don't Use <FONT ... > Tags.
		They are being phased out in preference to Inline Styles and Cascading Style Sheets.
	Avoid Using Visible Hit Counters Without a Specific Need
		Counters Can Break They Can Be Very Inaccurate They Can Slow Down Page Loading Who Cares! The last time you went into a department store, theatre or gas station, did you run up and ask, "how many other people have been in here today?"  If You ABSOLUTELY MUST Use a Counter, Get One That Will Do More Than Count Hits. such as the service at WEBTRENDS
	Do people REALLY care how many Awards you have won? (Unless You are "In The Business")
	Give Everything the "Why Am I Doing This, and Why Is This Here?" Test
		If you can't come up with a good answer, take it off!
	Keep the User Oriented - Have a "Return Home" Button on Every Page
	If you use Image Maps and Other Graphical Navagation Tools, Provide a Text Only Alternative.
	Avoid "Cutsie" Scrolling Banners in the Status Window
		Some Browsers, NetScape in Particular, Have "Memory Leaks," and Those Scrolling JavaScript Banners Can Cause Out of Memory Errors After a Time. These Banners Also Interfere With the Status Messages and Link Displays In The Status Bar.
	Avoid Needless Animations
		See Above They Also Tend to Slow Everything Down
	Get Rid of Anything (or as much as possible) Standing Between the Visitor and What They Came There to Get.
		A Prime Example: Tacky, time-wasting, animated, "Welcome To Our Site: Click Here To Enter" Splash Screens.
	Don't Abuse Frames
		Screen Real Estate is Usually At A Premium. One Fixed "Menu" Frame is OK, But Avoid More Than That If Possible Always specify a TARGET of "_top" for links that go off your site. That way your visitors won't get stuck in one of your frames and become one of your victims.
	If There is No Compelling Reason To Do It - Don't!
	There are exceptions to all rules, don't make it a life goal to peck them out and inflict them on others.
	Know When To Use Tools Other Than The Web
		Mailing Lists, List Servers, E-Mail Auto-Responders and Fax Back often provide faster, less expensive and more widely distributed services than The World Wide Web.
	Test Your Site
		Use NetScape, Internet Explorer, Opera, WEB-TV, Safari, Mozilla and especially AOL Browsers to make certain that all visitors can at least navigate your website and access critical content. If Available, Use The UNIX Browser LYNX, to test your site. LYNX is a text only browser, used by some who access the Net from shell accounts, TTY Terminals and in SOME third-world countries.
	Keep It Fresh
		If It Never Changes, Folks Abandon You - Update Weekly If Possible
	Keep It Organized
	Keep It Interesting
		Your Ultimate Goal is To Wind Up In the Visitors Bookmark File
	Keep It Interesting
		Your Ultimate Goal is Many Repeat Visitors
	Announce Your Site
		Build a Field And They Will Come .... Not So With a Website. List Your New Site With All of the Major Search Engines and Indices Send Properly Formatted Site Announcements to the Appropriate Mailing Lists Net Happenings Digest Net Surfers Digest Send Properly Formatted Site Announcements To The Proper Usenet Newsgroups. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Read the FAQ or Charter for Any Newsgroup On Which You Plan to Advertise!
		NOTE: Almost all of the "We Submit Your Site to a Bazillion Engines, Directories, etc." are pretty "Generic." That's not to say that they have no use, and they are usually worth the money. REMEMBER, HOWEVER . . . There are really only about Five search engines that REALLY Count! --- So here's what you do! CAREFULLY Craft Your Pages, META Tags, Paragraph Text, Headers, Image ALT Text and Titles to be relevant to your mission statement and keywords. SUBMIT to the "Big Five" Yourself! THEN use one of the submittal services to "Catch the Rest."
	Integrate Your Internet Presence Into Your Overall Marketing and Support Programs
		Make Certain that Your URL and E-Mail Addresses are Included in Your Print, Television and Radio Ads. Don't forget to plug the PBS show you sponsor on the website, and plug the website in the announcement.
	Keep Announcing Your Site
		Resubmit Your Site to The Proper Indices When Major Revisions or Additions are Made
	Do It NOW!
		If you build it by adding a major new item every week, visitors will get in the habit of checking back frequently. Don't wait for your site to be complete before announcing it.
	Test your site on someone elses computer, under someone elses account, on a 28.8 dial up connection and clear the browser cache before you do it.
		This will help ensure that all file protections are properly set, all references are working, and that the speed will be adequate.
When your business is at stake, it's best to hire a specialist.  You Can Improve Your Chances of Success By Using a Pro! Free medical care by high school anatomy class. Corporate annual reports designed -- free (Grad students need experience) "Hey, let Uncle Ernie shoot your daughter's wedding, he just got that fancy camera!" "I heard Bobby got a computer for his birthday, see if he'll set up our network." "Jo Anne went to that Internet seminar last year, let her supervise the Web project." "Gee -- thanks  boss, I always wanted to do a Website!" Sound absurd?  It happens every day -- in all walks of life. If Your Website Will Be Business Critical ... While it's a fact that anyone can learn to "Write Basic Web Pages," you will need more than a "web pages done dirt cheap" service. You Need an Internet Publisher and a Partner. When Selecting an Internet Publisher, Keep These Facts and Suggestions in Mind The Internet is more than the Web -- It's E-Mail, E-Commerce, Auto-responders, Interactive Mailing Lists, Discussion Groups, Collaborative Computing and more. Your Internet Publisher is more than a mere "writer of web pages, they are strategic partners on your communications team.   Your Internet Publisher should be prepared to establish a long-term, win-win relationship, and be willing to "go the extra mile" to help ensure your success. Your Internet Publisher should share their expertise, and be willing to assist you with a transition to in-house maintenance and design if needed. This includes designing your Internet presence for ease of maintenance and update. Your Internet Publisher should invest their time to learn about your industry, your business, your marketing and communications plans and your customer base. Your Internet Publisher should have experience in a variety of business arenas -- including your industry. Your Internet Publisher should have experience with "traditional" media, including print and broadcast. This ensures your Internet presence both complements and is complemented by your other marketing and customer support efforts. Your Internet Publisher must be fanatic about quality, and keep an eye on the bottom line. The only "surprises" should be pleasant ones.