| Even small clients expect a lot from web designers | | | | If a company has just launched a new website or a |
| these days, and it isn't always possible to meet their | | | | major redesign, they probably want to let people |
| demands. However, many things that used to be | | | | know about it. One of the best ways to do this is to |
| technically difficult and cost-prohibitive are now well | | | | send out an attractive HTML email announcement |
| within reach. This article gives practical advice about | | | | branded with the look of the new website. Trying to |
| how to easily implement a CMS, a custom search | | | | do this from Outlook is a painful proposition indeed, |
| engine, an email marketing campaign, contact forms, | | | | and happily, it's unnecessary. Many services will |
| and visitor tracking. And even if website owners | | | | manage your email blasts for a reasonable price. |
| don't request these features, all web designers should | | | | Vertical Response and Constant Contact, two popular |
| be offering them. | | | | choices, allow web developers to design custom |
| 1. Content Management System (CMS) | | | | emails using their own HTML editor. After you upload |
| Today, most small website owners expect to be | | | | your mailing list, these services will not only facilitate |
| able to make their own updates without any HTML | | | | the mailing, but also provide detailed reports about |
| knowledge. Solutions like Drupal and WordPress are | | | | who opened the mail, who clicked on a link, what |
| impractical because the owner doesn't want to | | | | emails addresses bounced, and much more. Vertical |
| grapple with an overly-complicated admin area that | | | | Response is a good option for those who expect to |
| displays features they'll never use. And building a | | | | do infrequent mailings, because they allow you to pay |
| custom CMS from scratch is a major project. | | | | as you go rather than purchasing a monthly |
| Fortunately, a number of CMS services have popped | | | | subscription. |
| up to meet the demand for a simple, affordable CMS. | | | | 4. Contact forms |
| Many, like CushyCMS and PageLime, use CSS classes | | | | Many small websites require custom forms, whether |
| to create editable content. All the developer has to | | | | for general contact, event registration, newsletter |
| do is create an account (both CushyCMS and | | | | sign up, or any other number of purposes. For web |
| PageLime are free), make a few tweaks to the | | | | developers whose coding knowledge is limited to the |
| website's code, and voila - the owner has control of | | | | basics - HTML and CSS - the solution for many years |
| the website from any browser. | | | | was FormMail, but that script's usefulness was always |
| 2. Keyword Site Search | | | | limited. Now there are more choices, and one of the |
| Google offers a useful tool called Custom Search, | | | | best out there is a little piece of software called |
| which allows web developers to create a custom | | | | Forms To Go. It's free to try and $30 to buy. It can |
| search engine for any website. Simply define the URL | | | | generate form processing scripts in PHP, ASP, and |
| to be searched, and Google will produce the code | | | | Perl, with the option of emailing the data, dumping it |
| you need for the search box and the results page. | | | | to a text file, and/or storing it in a database. If you |
| Results are displayed the same way they are in a | | | | know how to code your own form in HTML and |
| standard Google search, but the content remains | | | | create a database on your server, Forms to Go will |
| within an iframe on your website, and, most | | | | do the rest. |
| importantly, only your website is searched. The | | | | 5. Web Traffic Statistics |
| standard edition is free, but it displays ads on the | | | | There are a lot of options, but right now Google |
| results page, which for many websites is undesirable. | | | | Analytics rules the roost. It's free, widely-used, easy |
| The no-ad version is $100 a year, although it's free | | | | to implement, and reliable. Just place a single piece of |
| for non-profits, universities, and government agencies. | | | | code on each page of your site, and you've got |
| 3. Email Marketing | | | | access to a wealth of tracking data. |