Should I Learn Web Development?

Starting from scratch and learning how to code a website probably isn’t the best way to get started if you’re serious about building a profitable business at a scale large enough to be “beneficial to the world.” Even if you could learn how to program a website in a short amount of time, your business needs more than a good programmer to be competitive in the technology marketplace.

If you have funding or if you’re looking for funding, it’s a common model to begin with a partnership between a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to handle the product management and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to handle the rest of the business. Of course, funding affords you the opportunity to pay others to help you build your business.

Whether or not you have money to accelerate your progress, one or more people will need to own the following additional efforts to help make your business viable:

• Legal: You’ll need a legal advisor to help you create the right business entity, navigate existing software patents, trademarks and intellectual property laws. You’ll also need legal counsel to deal with issues of personal privacy and protecting personal information if you plan to have members who log in to your site.

1. • Marketing: You’ll need to study your customers and their buying behaviors to make sure your technology fulfills a need and attracts a reachable audience. You’ll also need to promote your business to acquire users.
   • Sales and Business Development: You’ll need to monetize your business and get people to buy whatever it is you’re selling, such as advertising space or memberships.
   • Finance: Someone will need to build and maintain your business financial model and see to it that your company pays all its taxes, complies with government regulations and maintains consistent cash flow for operations.
   • Strategy: Know your market and your competition, and position your company to be a good choice among the other choices consumers have when considering your offering.
   • Human Resources: Even if you’re planning to be a one-owner company or solo-preneur for the long term, you’re likely to need partners, contractors or employees at some point to have a business of any scale. Someone will need to manage your relationships, screen and interview potential partners or employees, and train people in your company culture and ideals.
   • Customer Service: If you’re planning to attract members or users, they will have questions, challenges and difficulties you’ll need to manage.
   • Advice: It’s a good idea to form a board of directors to give you advice, keep you accountable to your goals and to help you make connections with the people and companies you need to be successful.

Originally Posted in Entrepreneur

10 Essential Tips For A Web Designer

1.    Try and avoid run of the mill things like page counters, java text scrolling, flashing images, GIF images, signs which say “we are not ready.” Or, too many illustrations or animations, black grounds or fade ins.

2.    Create a design which conveys in a stylish way what it has to. Use original illustrations.

3.    Avoid things like heavy files or graphics. These will slow down your pages. GIF is better than JPEG files.

4.    Think of the target audience and subject being addressed. The overall effect should be that of exclusivity.

5.    Avoid incorporating download plugins. You will lose viewers if you don’t provide an HTML alternative.

6.    Design the pages so that they are not more than 50K.

7.    A web page should not have more than 3 screens and the viewer should not have to scroll horizontally.

8.      Test your website pages with several browsers. Make sure they open quickly and completely. Do a reality check by asking a cross section of users to check the site. It will bring to the fore any mistakes made.

9.    Don’t use backgrounds with tiles or patterns it makes the design fussy and decreases readability. Avoid frames they make the pages difficult to book mark.

10.    Determine accurately the rules of creative design and ensure that you apply them. If you have links make sure they work. Limit page content. Pay attention to search engine optimization. Ensure that the design follows the content and is not a separate element. Maintain archives. Use innovative fonts and titles. The content should follow basic elements of style or a style sheet.

Keep in mind at all times the 5 golden principles of design: balance, rhythm, proportion, dominance, and unity.

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