When making a website, there are many aspects (design concerns) to consider. Due to the rapid development of the Internet, the web development team should keep abreast of new technology or standards. For non-business websites, the goals may vary depending on the desired target audience and desired response. For typical business websites, the basic elements of design are:
- The content: The substance, and information on the site should be relevant to the site and should target the area of the public that the website is aiming for.
- The usability: The site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable.
- The appearance: The graphics and text should include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and relevant.
- The visibility: The site must also be easy to find via most, if not all, major search engines and advertising media.
A website usually contains text and images. The first page of a website is known as the Home page and can be titled Index or Default. Some websites use what is commonly called a Splash Page. Splash pages can include a welcome message, language/region selection, or disclaimer. Each web page within a website is an HTML file which has its own Uniform Resource Locator (URL). After each web page is created, they are linked together using a navigation menu composed of hyperlinks. With today's technology and faster browsing speeds, visitors tend to have shorter attention spans. Because of this there has been less use of Splash Pages, particularly where business websites are concerned.
Once a web site is has been finished, it has to be published or uploaded to a hosting server in order to be viewable to the public over the internet. This may be done using an FTP client. FTP clients come as stand-alone products or are usually incorporated in web design programs. Once the finished website or pages are published, the webmaster may use a variety of techniques to increase the traffic, or hits, that the website receives. This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This may include submitting the website to a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, exchanging links with other websites, creating affiliations with similar websites, etc.