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Home| Paintball and the Web | Published Sep 1998 An Article by Robert J Hallford |
| New on the paintball scene is the Internet. With thousands of sites to choose from, what are the features that attract repeat visitors? In three words; content, content, and content. The commercial sites hire professionals and spend money to set the look of their on-line home. Some are very good sites with tech information, product information, and on-line purchasing. To compete for the surfer's time, a noncommercial home site must be a useful and interesting place to visit. As a beginning web site designer, here are a few thoughts on ways to spruce up your home site.
Probably one of the most important, if not THE most important feature is an interesting theme. People soon tire of "Here I am-I love paintball-Here is my awesome paint marker-Here are my buddies" sites. There is a place for this type of information, but it should not be the total focus of the site. As it is difficult to compete in the tech area (unless you are an air smith or marker designer), what is left? Links and information. Add a section detailing local fields-location, type of play, prices, field paint or BYOP, speedball or scenario. A lot of small local fields exist that are a blast to play, but are not well known outside the immediate area. Another section might list local players who are willing to help a stranger or newbie. Maybe people who are recruiting team members. The site might list local tournaments, charity or otherwise. Links are always good but they MUST work. Broken links are perhaps the most annoying item in a search for information. Links to paintball graphics sites are generally appreciated. From personal experience, I can say it is difficult to find simple graphics that can be used for flyers and posters. High color and animated pictures, while useful for developing a website, are not very useful when someone is trying to advertise an event on a limited budget. Other options are links to online paintball games. They are not as much fun as the real thing; but at midnight in December they're better than nothing. Fast loading and easy navigation are a must. If your site takes special plug-ins, takes three minutes to load, and has music that the viewers do not appreciate they might not be back. If you really want to provide this kind of content, it might be wise to build a simple entry page detailing what to expect. Possibly, even make alternate forms of the site available. Easy navigation means consistent and obvious icons with a clear table of contents or site map. Take the time to thumbnail large pictures. Visitors will appreciate not having to load graphics that they are not interested in. Bone Up on HTML at the TuDogs site. Make your site search engine friendly. Many tutorials and help sites will guide you through the process that will make your site appear early in a keyword search. Advertise! This takes time and energy. While submission programs and services abound, the most certain method is to list your site in as many places as possible, usually one at a time. I know a man that listed his site in about fifty locations. He still adds it whenever he finds a new place. Submit It offer a free service for submitting your site to search engines. Give it a try. Update often and post the date of the last update. Few people are interested in a site that hasn't changed in months or even years. Add a method for surfers to contact you. This might be an e-mail link or a guest book. Someone might have an idea that will make your site better. Acknowledge submissions. People who contact you appreciate a timely answer and will tell their friends what a good guy you are. Finally, have fun. If you don't enjoy the creation process, the site won't be enjoyable to the viewer. Robert J Hallford Paint site design and contents Copyright Mike Wallis |
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