What is Web site?

Definition

The collection of web pages on the World Wide Web that is accessed by its own Internet address is called a Web site. Thus, a website is a collection of related Web pages. Each Web site contains a home page and contains other additional pages. Each Web site is owned and updated by an individual, company, or an organization. Web is a dynamically moving and changing entity, today web sites generally change on a daily or even hourly basis.

How website is different from portal?

Web portal is a medium by which users access the resources, while a website is a destination  in itself. Portals and  websites are distinct entities which are linked together, but they should not replace each other. A website is also a portal, if it broadcast information from different independent resources whereas web portal refers to a website or services that provide varied resources and services such as email, forums, search engines and online shopping malls.

Some of the web portals are AOL, Google, Yahoo and  even more.

A website refers to a location or a domain name hosted on a server which is accessible via internet. It is a collection of web pages, images, videos which are addressed relative to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Websites provide content from independent resources to specific audience. The content of the website is generally focused & contains the material needed to be accessed.

Components of Website:

1. Contents of a Web page: A web page of a website must contain the basic elements such as page title, URL, file name, header, footer, navigation, web page content are all parts to the composition of a web page.
2. Website Graphics: Always use web graphics which have been optimized for optimum download speed, as the web hosting space affects the performance of the website.
3. Heading of the site: Heading in a website play a crucial role as they not only present a clear structure of the web page to the audience and help the search engines to retrieve the required information.
4. Effective Colour Contrast: As the websites are used to retrieve the information related to specific purpose or topic. It is very important to take care of the presentation of the contents of the sites. So that, website visitors must not have any difficulty in reading a web page. As sometimes when we pick a colour scheme for our website we forget that there are people with poor vision and colour deficiencies.

Elements of Website, Are as Follows:

• Good Visual Design: A site must be appearing and if required, must be professional. Your site reflects your company, your products and your services.
• Screen Resolution: As we know that websites  are displayed on the screen of electronic devices and every device has different resolution. Today, the average web surfer uses a resolution of 1024 *768 pixels. However, you need to make sure that your website looks good at this setting and must work nicely for other resolutions too.
• Colour Scheme & Text Formatting: To make the website presentable appropriate colour scheme must be used. Always use 2 or 3 primary colours that reflect the purpose of your site. Add contrast colours in your site, which helps the user to easily read the text. Use fonts that are easy to read and available on most of today’s computer systems. Keep the standard font size for paragraph text i.e. between 10 and 12 pts.
• Insert Meaningful Graphics: Graphics are important, as they provide the site a legible and interactive appearance. However, don’t use too many images and that too with a high resolution. First, whenever user will try to download the website it will take too long to download and secondly, too many images with less text, lose the interest of the customer.
• Simplicity: Keep your site simple and allow for adequate white space. Don’t overload your site with complex design, animation, or other effects to impress your viewers.
• Relevant Content: Include relevant information along with style, to help the visitors to make a decision.
• Navigation: Keep your site simple and well organized. Don’t use fancy Navigation Bar in your website. Place all the menu items at the top of your site, or above the fold on either side. Include Site Maps in your site to reduce the number of top level navigation items. Every component of your site should work quickly and correctly. Broken or component of your site should work quickly and correctly. Broken or poorly constructed components will frustrate the visitors. All the hyperlinks, contact forms, should be placed appropriately.
• Minimal Scroll: While surfing the sites for information users do not like scrolling the page instead they need to see all the information on one screen. Even the Search Engines will reward you for this behaviour.
• Consistent Layout: Always use  a consistent layout in the whole website which will help you to retain the theme of the site.
• Cross- Platform/browser Compatibility: Today many open source browsers are being used by the users. Create a website which should be platform independent.