Virtual Business Designing Your Site Copyright Texas Education
Agency, 2012. All rights reserved
Slide 2
Copyright and Terms of Service Copyright Texas Education
Agency. The materials found on this website are copyrighted and
trademarked as the property of the Texas Education Agency and may
not be reproduced without the express written permission of the
Texas Education Agency, except under the following conditions:
1)Texas public school districts, charter schools, and Education
Service Centers may reproduce and use copies of the Materials and
Related Materials for the districts and schools educational use
without obtaining permission from the Texas Education Agency; 2)
Residents of the state of Texas may reproduce and use copies of the
Materials and Related Materials for individual personal use only
without obtaining written permission of the Texas Education Agency;
3) Any portion reproduced must be reproduced in its entirety and
remain unedited, unaltered and unchanged in any way; 4) No monetary
charge can be made for the reproduced materials or any document
containing them; however, a reasonable charge to cover only the
cost of reproduction and distribution may be charged. Private
entities or persons located in Texas that are not Texas public
school districts or Texas charter schools or any entity, whether
public or private, educational or non-educational, located outside
the state of Texas MUST obtain written approval from the Texas
Education Agency and will be required to enter into a license
agreement that may involve the payment of a licensing fee or a
royalty fee. Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights
reserved 2
Slide 3
Ambiguous contact information Broken links Slow server Too many
font styles and colors Ineffective navigation structure Obsolete
information Pages without links Disabling the back button Too many
bells and whistles Web Site Design Mistakes Copyright Texas
Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 3
Slide 4
Design Principles Structure Font Color -consider the number of
pages in your site -consider the location of the navigation bar
-formatting of buttons and links -color scheme of the site -color
as a background, to highlight text, or borders -choose fonts to
enhance readability -maximum of three sizes and styles Copyright
Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 4
Slide 5
Design Principles (continued) Images Text Media -only
appropriate photos and images -consider placement -video or sound
clips -can detract from sites usability -use phrases, not long
sentences -keep your wording simple -use white space around text
Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 5
Slide 6
Quick-loading pages Working links -dont want to see Page Not
Found message Shopping carts -provide this instead of order forms
to print and mail Ease of navigation -obvious buttons, return to
Home page Viewable images -make sure they load quickly and
correctly Email contact -email link and all other contact
information Functionality Basic Functions 11 22 33 44 55 66
Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 6
Slide 7
Functionality Interactive Functions 11 22 33 44 55 66 Site
search -make it easy to search within your site Site search -make
it easy to search within your site Downloadable documents -pdf
documents, product reviews Downloadable documents -pdf documents,
product reviews Forums -message boards, chat rooms Forums -message
boards, chat rooms Blogs -online journals Blogs -online journals
Member registration -to receive emails, newsletters, and other
benefits Member registration -to receive emails, newsletters, and
other benefits Newsfeeds and RSS (Rich Site Summary/aka Really
Simple Syndication) -news stories and press releases Newsfeeds and
RSS (Rich Site Summary/aka Really Simple Syndication) -news stories
and press releases Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All
rights reserved 7
Slide 8
Functionality Enhanced 11 22 33 44 55 Online demonstrations and
tutorials Customer support -24/7 or live Customer support -24/7 or
live Geographic locators -maps, directions, store locators
Geographic locators -maps, directions, store locators Viewing
options -for customers who speak another language Viewing options
-for customers who speak another language New media -podcasts,
video conferences New media -podcasts, video conferences Copyright
Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 8
Slide 9
Technical Details Have enough disk space. Data transfers-can be
charged fees for heavy traffic Bandwidth-amount of data that can be
sent or received Database access- need space for inventories
Technical support from the host Backup your site often. Copyright
Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 9
Slide 10
Ad Formats Leaderboard 728 x 90 pixels Leaderboard 728 x 90
pixels Full banner 468 x 60 pixels Full banner 468 x 60 pixels
Square 336 x 280 pixels Square 336 x 280 pixels Button 120 x 90
pixels Button 120 x 90 pixels Skyscraper 160 x 600 pixels
Skyscraper 160 x 600 pixels Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012.
All rights reserved 10
Slide 11
What is a domain name? a part of the URL of a web site address
have different levels separated by a dot: Ex. sba.gov sba is the
middle-level Middle level most common Not as much detail as a URL
name What is a URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator a web site
address for documents and other resources Domain Names and URLs
Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 11
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Keep it simple Easy to spell Short Important keywords Says who
you are Be creative and specific Domain and URL Name Tips Copyright
Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 12
Slide 13
Search for a site that registers names Check the pricing Enter
your name Choose your extension .com (usually the default, general
business) .net (Internet business) .org (non-profit or trade
association) .biz (small business) .edu (post-secondary
institutions) Register Your Domain Name and URL Copyright Texas
Education Agency, 2012. All rights reserved 13
Slide 14
Top Internet Retailer Presentation In pairs, students will
create a presentation using either presentation management software
or a web-based presentation displaying information about any one of
the top ten Internet retailers. They are to identify specific
aspects of the site itself including overall user-friendliness, use
of design principles, internal links, and amount of useful
information on the site. An evaluation of advertising on the site
should also be included. Design Principles Analysis Document Have
students draw three web sites from a hat (or box). They are to go
to each site and evaluate each based on the design principles from
this lesson. Students will create a table with the name and URL of
each site at the top of their table, the specific design element
down the left column, and the comparison of each element in the
remaining cells of the table. Then they will identify which web
site does the best job at meeting the most design elements.
Independent Practice Assignments Copyright Texas Education Agency,
2012. All rights reserved 14
Slide 15
Create a Business Web Site In small groups, number of students
dependent upon class size, students will create a web site for a
business they create. They will follow design principles in
creating the site. The following items must be included, preferably
on separate pages of the site with appropriate navigation
structure: name and logo for your company your business philosophy
why did you start this business? the purpose of your business what
are you selling? pricing information contact information shipping
information pictures of your product or service policies such as
privacy, confidentiality, customer service satisfaction The site
can be created using a free online template or even in desktop
publishing or word processing software. The pages can be saved as a
web page. In most software the site can be previewed as a web page
by pressing the f12 key. Independent Practice Assignments
(continued) Copyright Texas Education Agency, 2012. All rights
reserved 15
