Developing an Action Plan from Concept to Completion

Not sure what the difference is between an ISP and a DNR and why you have to pay for both? Unclear on whether you are paying a fair price for your web site? Overwhelmed by the thought of updating your web site (let alone getting the passwords to do so)?

Technical trainer and coach Emma Jane Hogbin will lead you through the maze of information required to build and maintain a successful web site. Using her experience from working with over 100 businesses and not-for-profits, Emma will turn the tables and put you back in charge of your web site. By the end of the course you will have the vocabulary to ask technical questions and the confidence to know if you are being charged an appropriate fee for work done.

In spring of 2006 Emma was interviewed on Daytime to talk about the Web Site Action Plan. You can watch the video of the interview.

Topics

Customers and Guests

Defining your audience
Exercise: creating personas

Peers and Community

Defining your project, defining success, using web site statistics
Exercise: measuring success

Planning Your Web Site

Sorting your information, choosing the right type of site
Exercise: drawing it out (create a flow chart for your web site)

Building Your Web Site

Setup and tools
Exercise: committing to dates

Promoting Your Web Site

Exercise: finding your market

Format

This workshop is available as a one-day workshop, a five day workshop, or a five week on-line course. Alumni of the workshop are encouraged to join the "action" mailing list. If you are interested in hosting this workshop "in person," please get in touch.

Those taking the course on-line should be able to dedicate at least four hours per week to this course. Lessons will be posted on Wednesday. You will then have one week to read through the lesson for the week, visit the sample web sites in the readings and complete the exercise. You will be able to post your questions and thoughts to the class for feedback. Emma monitors the discussion and responds to questions daily. You will not need special computer stuff to participate. The tools you are using to read this page will be enough!

Textbook

The text of the workshop may be downloaded in PDF format. The current revision is 1.9. Download the Web Site Action Plan [342K]. This workbook is under a constant state of revision. Please distribute the URL for this page, not the text itself. If you are interested in this text for anything other than personal use, please get in touch for the most appropriate version for your needs. Print copies are also available for a small fee.

Update: The Web Site Action Plan Workbook has been adopted by Humber College as the text for IMGT198: Web Site in a Weekend.