[101admin] A few things for your consideration

[Dan Millsip]

<bigger>Hi All,


First of all, I think this idea is a great one. A site such as the one
being discussed here would have been a great help to me and would have
saved me a lot of time when I first started flying kites.=20


Thanks Ellen, for suggesting my name be added to your list.


Originally, I thought I would make this a private communication between
those of you who have posted regarding starting a new site for novice
kiters but since you've taken the initiative to start this new discussion
group I've posted it here. I'm was going to mail this privately because I
don't want to come across as a 'know-it-all' on rec.kites and hope that I
don't come across that way here. I do however, posses a pretty vast
knowledge of building websites as I have been developing websites
professionally every day for the past six years (since all pages were
grey). I do know what works and what is a waste of time. At the risk of
sounding like I'm patting myself on the back, all of my sites have done
extremely well and have achieved all the goals of their intended purpose.=20


My intent here is to prepare you for the amount of work, time and
planning that it will take to construct a successful website, i.e., a
reality check. This is a culmination of my experiences of building
websites that work. Feel free to ignore what I've posted here if you
choose, I'm sure that from what I've seen so far that you will all make
this project work one way or another.


So here goes:


Planning for a website is no small undertaking -- it's a lot of work and
to make it successful requires a great deal of thought, not only for the
information that will be included, but also how that information will be
presented. Consideration also needs to be given for the maintenance of
the site including regular updates, associated costs, and a plan for the
future.=20


I don't have a great deal of time available to work on this project (in
fact, I have very little) but can offer some things to think about before
you jump in with both feet. Bear in mind that most sites fail because
there wasn't any planning done in the initial stages -- planning is
critical to the success of a project -- you must know where it is going
and how you're going to get there *before* you start. This is paramount.
If it's not done, the project will quickly lose direction and if you're
lucky, it will fail quickly. If you're not lucky, it will die a slow,
miserable death.


Having said this, following are my thoughts on a new website for people
new to kiting.


When I first meet with a potential client I ask the following=20
questions:



1.) DETERMINE THE PURPOSE


Why do you want to build a website?

This question has been answered in RK. There's an obvious lack of a
website for beginners to kiting.


What is the site intended for?=20

In this case it seems to me that the purpose of the site is to offer
information that will assist new kite fliers in the beginning stages of
their involvement as well as offering information that will keep them
interested as thier skill level develops (say, to an intermediate
level).


Who is the site intended for?

Obviously, it's intended for those new to kiting, but who are they? Where
are they? Profiles of a typical user need to be determined based on sex,
age, geographic location, financial status -- perhaps a questionnaire at
RK would offer some useful user profile information -- but maybe not as
(I assume) most people on RK are already into kiting. These profiles will
be used to determine the method of presenting the information. There's no
point in building a site that is very technical in nature if the intended
audience are kids between the ages of 10-16 years. This is not what will
capture their attention. I can assume that the target market for this
site will be a wide age group (20-50+ years). Likewise, it wouldn't be
prudent to build a graphics heavy site if the average user does not have
a high-speed connection (when I build a site primarily for a Canadian
audience, I increase the maximum allowable file sizes as Canadians have
the fastest per capita Internet connections in the world).



2.) DETERMINE GOALS


What do you want the site to accomplish?

This is probably the most difficult phase of a new site and requires the
most focus. Goals are VERY important. If none are put forth you will have
no way to determine if you have been successful (And you DO want to know
when it's time to lift a glass to everyone involved!) What are the
primary goals that you are hoping to achieve? How do you intend to
achieve those goals? What are the secondary goals? i.e., long term. When
setting goals it's important to make sure that you can reach them. Set
them too high and you'll only find disappointment.


How will you measure success of the site?

This question is important because you need to know when your work is
done. Will success be rated on the traffic (unique visitors), user
feedback, number of sites that link to it? Or a combination of all of
these. Or something else entirely?



3.) DETERMINE THE CONTENT REQUIREMENTS


I've been reading with great interest all that has been posted and there
are some great ideas. My advice here is to start small. Make the goals
simple and easy to achieve. If you try to build everything into the site
at the beginning it will lead to problems -- learn to manage the basics
first and then add new features as the previous ones are managed
efficiently. You can always add to the site later.


Is the site going to be static or will the information be updated on a
regular basis?=20

Static sites are much easier to look after. This project sounds to me
that it will be a mix of both. Obviously, any database features such as
searchable lists of retail outlets are not considered static. Kite
reviews and basic instructional information for people just getting into
kiting will probably not change very often and are static (once you've
explained how to tie a larks head knot you will never have to change it
again).=20


Technical requirements are another big factor -- obviously the more
features that can be automated, i.e., no maintenance is required, the
better. But bear in mind that automated systems generally take a
significant amount of time and effort to implement properly. They also
require a lot more technical expertise. I'm a big supporter of automated
systems but only if they are done in a manner that is easy for the user
to use.


What type of content features can be automated?

The "Flying Buddies" directory should obviously be automated. It should
also be searchable by geographic area. Yes, a clickable image map would
look nice but is it really necessary? It's a lot of work to create
graphic maps for a small geographic area, never mind the entire planet.
My recommendation would be to make this a text based feature (it would
also make it more bandwidth friendly). It's something that I would
develop at a date after the site is up and running smoothly. Same goes
for club and store locations directory. Another feature that is very
important is an automated system to check for website addresses that are
no longer current. As many of you are no doubt aware, clubs (and to a
lesser degree, retail outlets), are notoriously transient on the web -- a
link that works today may not work tomorrow. It's a major job to ensure
that all links from a site are working correctly -- and people will lose
faith in a site if too many links don't work.


I looked at the list that Andrew posted and think this is a step in the
right direction:


- Which kite to choose

 - Where abouts to buy it

 - How to set it up

 - Hints and tips for new fliers.

 - Get in touch with your local scene.  Tell us where you are and

   we'll point you in the direction of:

    - Local fliers who may be willing to help you get started

    - Your nearest clubs

    - Your nearest specialist kite stores

    - Any manufacturers that happen to be in your locality

    - Noted flying sites in your area.

 - The online scene

    - discussion groups

    - interactive chat

    - mailing lists

    - search engines


My recommendation here would be to start out with the first four items
(with a few more added, see below) -- get this up and running and then
continue on to each of the other items step by step. This will directly
tie into the Goals portion of this post. The success of the first four
items will be easy to determine -- strictly by the amount of traffic that
the site attracts. If the success is determined adequate, then move on to
the next item(s). Further to this, I would strongly suggest implementing
a mail list at the very outset. Oddly enough, Mail lists are the most
under used features of a website. They give you the best indication of
how many people are actually using the site seriously (generally, if I
can attract 5-10% of all visitors to a site to join the mail list it's
considered a huge success). Mail lists can also be used to bring people
back to the site when new features are added. Repeat visits are
considered gold in my business. Mail lists can also be a great source of
building future content for a site -- consider if you send out regular
mail with a new tip or two in each issue -- before long you've got a good
foundation for more content that can be added to the site.


In a situation like this one, I would develop a long term plan to
implement the features that are decided on. I think a reasonable time for
the items above would be a period of about a year (maybe even two). This
will allow the site to progress without being overwhelming to those who
are administering it. And on the grand scale of things, a year or two is
not that long to do something right (bear in mind that when it comes to
determining a website construction schedule that I always triple the
estimate -- and that's with full time people working on it!).


Basically, make the intitial phases of the site easy to build and
maintain, i.e., static information. Find out if there is indeed a need
for a site like this and if there is, then go nuts with other types of
features.


Other items that I would include to Andrew's list would be:


- Common sense rules.

- An explanation of the wind window.

- An explanation of determining wind speed.

- How to prepare for, and do field repairs.

- How many beers to pack in the cooler for a six hour day at the beach
:-) -- maybe not!


I'm certain that this group can come up with a number of items that could
be added to this list while keeping the information basically static.



4.) DETERMINE WHO WILL PROVIDE THE CONTENT


This is a biggy. As everyone knows, content is king on the web but who is
going to write it? I'm sure that many in this forum are very capable as
far as kiting knowledge goes, but writing can be a whole other thing. Who
will provide illustrations, drawings, photos, etc.? We also need someone
to edit the content for spelling and grammar (will the site use UK or US
spelling conventions? -- not a big deal but it needs to be asked.) The
content also needs to have credibility -- credibility brings traffic. I
assume that credibility is not going to be a problem with this group
(assuming that everyone can agree on what is right and what is wrong).



5.) DETERMINE A MARKETING STRATEGY


How will you promote the site?

There are several REALLY EFFECTIVE ways that I have found that work well
on the web.


1.) E-mail others with related sites and ask them to provide a link.

2.) Enter the site into web design award contests (some of the awards
that my sites have won have brought in excess of 3,000 unique visitors to
the site in a single day).

3.) Search engine listings -- there are a lot of little tricks to get
better listings.

4.) Mail Lists -- develop a regular schedule for sending out to the mail
list.

5.) Banners with the web address at festivals

6.) Business cards with the web address to hand out while on the field (I
really liked this one!) Hmmm... maybe a downloadable pdf file that can be
printed on a laser printer...



6.) DETERMINE A MAINTENANCE STRATEGY


Even a static site will require a minimal amount of maintenance. Who will
do these updates? Who will be responsible for adding/writing new
content?


A schedule should be developed to determine when new information should
be included. I would suggest a new item be added at least each month.



7.) DETERMINE FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS


Who is going to pay? You've already run into this one. The domain name is
only the beginning.


There will be other considerations in the future. At some point the
technical resources of the group will not be adequate for the features
that you want to add. Is there an organization that might consider
throwing a few bucks into the kitty to pay for some of the initial costs?
It wouldn't take a whole lot of money, but I would say to kick things off
two or three hundred dollars would be nice. I'd hate to see this idea
falter because something was needed for 50 bucks and no one is willing to
pay for it. Just a suggestion, but perhaps Kitelife would be a good one
to approach -- Mike already provides a lot of information for the serious
flyer -- and would seem the logical next place on the web for someone to
go once they've got everything that they can from this site. I realize
that there is a desire not to include commercial advertising on the site
(and to a great extent, I agree), but a few links to Kitelife.com may not
be a bad idea. It may also be a good way for the kiting community to give
back to Mike for what he has given to the kite community.


----


Well folks, there's my two cents worth (or is more like a nickels
worth?). Anyway, I really do think that the idea is a good one and I
applaud all of you for taking it to the point that you already have. And
although it may seem that I'm giving you more to think about than you
might think is necessary, it's been my experience that those who don't
consider all of the above items don't make it. I've walked away from many
web jobs because the client hasn't given enough consideration to these
items -- even if the money is there, I won't take a job on unless I think
the client is willing to do what's necessary in the planning stages (it
happens a lot more than you would think). From what I've read in
rec.kites and in this forum, all of you appear to have the passion to
make this work and as I've said, I unfortunately have very little time
available to contribute here. I would however, be more than willing to
participate as a consultant if you want.


Forgive me if I don't respond right away to any replies to this message
as I'm working like a dog to get Ray Bethell's site online by the 10th of
this month -- only two more sleeps. I promise I'll reply once I've
finished up there.

</bigger>

Thanks for taking time to read this post.


BTW: My vote would be for www.kites101.com with the 's'. But I'd also get
kite101.com and do a redirect, just in case. Uh Oh... there's another $35
US to start this up.




Best regards,


-Dan.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dan Millsip                     =20

Renaissance Web Creation Inc.    Website: http://www.renweb.net/

23195 96th Ave, PO Box 836       Tel/Fax: 604-513-1192

Fort Langley, BC V1M 2S2         E-mail:  dan@renweb.net