We have gotten mad emails about this, and we here at PHAT are responding. Everyone wants to know how to build that winning website, how to manage their website, and how to make that website help take their careers to the next level. And why shouldn't you?
In voluptuous adult entertainment, where oppurtunities aren't exactly in numerous supply, a website could mean the difference between world domination, success, or fading into the huge abyss of irrelevence. Lets face it, it takes a lot to stand out in this huge number of voluptuous adult sites out there. Yet the fact still remains that with all those sites out there, there is still enough money for everyone. But unlike years ago, the standard and the bar has been risen significantly. The success of a website relies on the site design and functionaltiy, AND on the content. Even the slightest rise in quality on any one of those traits can mean huge gains both popularity wise and money wise.
And this is what we are going to tackle for the next few months. What it takes to actually hire someone one to build your site, what to look for in a web team, how to market your site, how to expand when necessary, how to manage your site, and more.
Believe us this topic is vast so while we are working hard to get all this info and research for you, we are going to start with a quick piece of important information to wet your appetites. And that is the "9 Signs That Tell You, You Shouldn't Hire This Guy"
Any web guy that calls himself a "webmaster", even though technically that would be the right term, probably isn't a master of anything. The term "webmaster" has become a translation for the word "amateur." The web has diversified into so many different realms that webmaster is no longer meaningful.
Any developer / designer with, or without, a degree knows that Microsoft FrontPage most definitely isn't a professional tool. FrontPage will pass for Mom and Dad who want to create a website dedicated to their dogs, not someone who's trying to do business. I'd argue that a solid Web Developer should work at code level.
Submitting your website to hundreds of search engines would be great...10 years ago. Websites are indexed by relevant search engines by how rich their content and keywords are. Search engine optimization is big business and submitting sites to search engines simply isn't the way to get to the top of Google.
You've paid this person to create a marketing tool for you -- not a billboard for him. Your website is a launch pad for your business, your brand, and more importantly, YOUR CAREER, and your web team, regardless of it whether its a team of many or a team of one, is simply the man behind the pussy. Now, he is a valued member, and a very important piece, and of course should be treated as such. But, unless he fills another job on your team where his opinion to your career matters, HE WORKS FOR YOU. Now, a designed by plug is cool, if you want to allow him to advertise himself, but, every single page, come on!
Your business needs someone who's been there before. The most common answer to my "Who was he and what business did they work for?" question is "Oh, he did a website for the CEO's daughter's [insert lame organization here]." I honestly hear that friend-of-a-friend story all the time. Choose someone with a site or sites that you can check out. After all that's, a web developer/designers portfolio. Also see if they can provide references.
All that really means is "I can spend dozens of hours wasting your money to create something that will take too long to load and will be skipped more times than dessert at a bad restaurant." Consistency and website flow are important to web design -- not meaningless animations that waste visitors' time and your money.
Who the hell isn't? I would argue that dropping any language acronym on a customer (PHP, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, etc.) unless they ask is meaningless bullshit. A mechanic could use a banana on my car if it would fix it. What matters is that the website can work and function the way you want it to. And unless you have or request a special need for a particular web technology, it doesn't really matter so long as the site works and acts the way you want it to.
You'll add an ugly relic of the early internet on my site so that my competitors have an idea of my web stats? Sweet!
Counters make a website look as unprofessional as possible -- don't use them. Beware of a web designer/developer that only knows how to add useless pieces to your site. Its like hiring a mechanic to work on your car, and all he does is put on bumper stickers and air freshners. That's not solving your problem.
Any real Web Developer knows that he doesn't make the rules. Follow standards in the initial build and then fix it in Internet Explorer -- that's the flow. No responsible programmer would place a "best if view in..." message on the front-end of a website.
