|
|
|
 |
| |
 |
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
A good design and layout
are essential to
communicating content,
but they'll communicate
a lack of
content, too. They'll
open doors, but if
there's no content to
step into, visitors will
leave. So, by creating
compelling content that
adheres to your mission
statement, you'll have a
one-two punch that'll
ensure your site gets
noticed.
|
|
|
The most important rule
for content is that it
must be proof-read,
spell checked, and
grammar checked. We
can't stress it enough;
no-one likes a poorly
written site. While
everyone makes these
kinds of mistakes, it's
just better for the
reader if you don't make
it a habit. Another
writing tip; be
opinionated. Any general
site can give the facts,
but if you put your
character into your
writing, you'll put
character into your
site. Plus, whether they
agree or disagree,
people will find a hook
- something that riles
them or makes them
think. Some other rules
include:
No coming
soon signs!
If you don't
have a section
up, don't
acknowledge its
development.
Nothing's worse
than clicking
"Ocarina of
Time" that to be
cheerily told
that if you come
back in X number
of weeks, it'll
be up. Even
worse are links
that target "#",
meaning that
they just take
you to the top
of the current
page.
|
 |
Not telling
visitors about
new content
means that when
it comes, it'll
be a nice
surprise.
Imagine what it
would be like if
Nintendo never
acknowledged the
existence of
Twilight
Princess until
the day they
released it with
Wii, and
remember what it
was like when
they announced
it would be
delayed another
year.
|
No splash pages!
Please, whatever
decisions you
make with your
site, make this
one: no splash
pages! There are
two reasons for
this; one, they
take too long to
load. Visitors
just want to get
to the
information they
came for. They
can visit your
forums from
inside your
site. Two, most
visitors take
one look at a
splash page and
hit their "back"
button. You
could be halving
your visitor
count! |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
So, you've finished your
Best Site Ever, and now
its time to show it off,
right? Well, you'll need
to stick it on the
internet first, but how?
You need a host, but
there are a couple of
complications:
1) Free hosts suck.
2) Good hosts cost.
Well, we're creating a
quality site, so we can
forget about the free
hosts. With clever
placement of Google's
AdSense advertisements,
you can cover the costs
of a paid host with
around 100 visitors a
day. Recommended hosts
include
1and1, and
Fasthosts (we use
the latter). You'll also
need a domain name, and
we recommend
UKReg. Once you've
uploaded your site to
the internet, you'll
need to get some
traffic.
|
|
|
If you have a quality
site, you should have no
problem finding
affiliates. Many sites
have a minimum-hits
requirement, which means
you should have x number
of visitors every day,
otherwise they won't
even consider you for
affiliation, but you
should simply ignore
these and find sites who
judge candidates on
quality.
A good idea for new
Zelda sites are topsites
lists. You'll need to
join loads of lists to
see any sort of traffic,
but you do need this
support in the site's
early days. A number of
these lists track
visitor counts, but
they're not reliable.
For a free tracker,
visit
Extreme Tracking.
|
|
|
The most important part
of running your site
after launch is
updating. If you create
quality updates on a
regular basis, people
will come back. I've
noticed that Zelda
Elements' most popular
months were during
content drives, and our
lulls have been months
without updating. Having
an update plan like a
webcomic would be ideal.
|
|
|
 Having
a community is great.
First, it keeps people
coming back for
something. Second, it
gives you a place for
discussion where you can
get feedback from the
visitors that matter
most. Third, you get to
meet with some cool
people under an
atmosphere that reflects
you as a person. Some
forums are really strict
and limit speech, but
for instance the Zelda
Elements forums have no
taboos, because I don't.
You first need a server
that supports PHP and
mySQL databases, and
then install a
PHPbb.
|
|
|
Working on Zelda
Elements has been a
rollercoaster, with good
times, bad, fun,
boredom, excitement and
hard work. At the end of
the day, I'd definitely
do it all again, and
that's the only seal of
approval I can give. The
more you're willing to
put into your site, the
more gratification
you'll get out of its
success and quality. I'd
recommend any determined
Zelda fan to start their
own site, if not only
for the education
they'll receive, than
the gratification that
comes from starting a
site and community.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
