Good or Bad?
There are many sites out there, but how can you tell which ones are good?
Or not so good?
Last Updated - 5/30/98
The information super-highway has over 35 MILLION drivers (users). Let's talk about the gas stations (web sites) a little bit. People have their own prefences to which sites they like, and why. So people like going to hardware sites, like CNET.COM , or music sites like MTV Online.
Whatever the case may be, there are some people that use the Internet sometimes for fun. People can talk to people around the world, or they can check out their favorite, or non-favorite bands. With that in mind you can check out concert dates, past dates, rumors (which isn't really good), lyrics, tabs, you name it.
What good does that do?
Let's begin to talk about someone who has started listening to a band. The person really likes some of their songs. However, the CD did not come with a lyric seat. What will that person do? Simple. Turn on the computer, dial-up their modem, start their Internet browser, and search.
For some of you that is probably the only way you ever learned most of the Nirvana songs (except In Utero). Unless someone told you them or you are a very good listener. Perhaps you wanted to play some of your favorite songs but you couldn't get this one lick right, it's easy. With a mouse-click away--really.
Not all gas stations (web pages) are good. Sometimes you come into ones that are dirty, or it doesn't look right. Maybe it's not your "type," or maybe you can't find the thing you are looking for. Or maybe you are tired of visiting the same one, but not exactly, that was 50 miles away.
It goes the same way for Internet sites as well. Sometimes you won't find anything "good" or "new" at some sites, other times you will.
It is not easy for somebody to guess which sites are the best. That is why I try to review fairly for each site, but I, like you, is a human-being. Sometimes I pass by sites (most of the time) and I decide not even to give it a review. Why? Too little content, too much graphics, and too much downloading time.
There are many "basics" however, and that is when I know someone will like a site. They must offer good, fresh, and original content. It is like eating the same hamburger everyday. We might get tired of it. We need some flavor to keep coming back and eating the burger. We don't like old burgers too. We don't want the same flavor as it was two years ago, nor do we want a copy-cat, because we could have ate the other burger instead.
Everyone looks for the basics. Lyrics, links, tabs, articles/interviews and lyrics. Some sites have more than others, for example, movies or sound clips. Perhaps a site specializes in one thing, like boot legs or reviews (like this one :) .. )
That is where the personal prefences kick in, again. One day you might want to look over some lyrics or find some news. Some sites rip-off the originals.
What is wrong with that?
Plenty. For one thing, the original creator (usually) doesn't get any credit. No one really knows who was the first person with a Nirvana page to type the actual lyrics out by hand. No one knows who typed all the articles, or scanned the pictures.
Why do people visit certain sites?
People visit certain sites for certain reasons, of course. Those reasons are clear and simple. One is the content. That is the heart of the page. Without content the page would be nothing. People do not like sites that are over done with graphics. Remember this, it is better to have a page with just text than graphics. Sure graphics are nice, that is after you put in the content. But you don't want too much graphics.
If you ever consider making a site you should consider the following:
I can't tell you how many sites are not original. You might have no ideas whatsoever. What should you do? Come up with ways to make your presentation creative. Too many pages have lyrics, so don't worry about that. Do something that will attract custumers to your gas station. Make sure you put up some well-known items. In addition, make sure it is easy to get around the store. Make sure your station is not like the one down the block.
After It's Published To The Web
This is probably the most confusing time for a webmaster. What should a person do now? You want to attract visitors, how? Follow these simple steps:
First, you should go to the "big" pages (one that attract a lot of visitors), or one of your favorites. That should help your visitors a little bit. Try to create a banner, you can go to Grunger's Corner, for example. Banners tend to attract more people's attention. I would also suggest you go to your own page, now, do this rarely, but it is OK because you want to make sure you a doing a good job. Check for broken links, and make sure it "looks right," or the way you intended it to do so. You must understand that your page will look different to Netscape if you built it using a Microsoft Product, or Vice-Versa.
You also need to update frequently. This can be hard, depending on what your page basically does. There's no reason why you can't update, if you can't, let the visitor know.
If you copy anything at all from someone's page, then e-mail the webmaster asking nicely that you can use it on yours. Not only will you be able to do this, but you will also get respected as a webmaster.
Going back to updating, I would suggest updating, if not daily, weekly, or like most do, once a month. If you plan on doing doing a major update graphically, or content-wise, let the visitor know. For example: "I am currently doing an update on my page's format, let me know if you see any broken pictures, or links."
More to come later...
Does this editorial help? Questions/Comments/Suggestions?