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Web resources
In this section of the website we provide a range of free Web resources that will help you understand the Web and assist you develop a more effective website or intranet. The resources reflect insights and lessons learnt in over ten years of Web consulting.
We encourage you to save these free Web resources on your computer and use them within your
organisation, forward them to your colleagues and your web developers.
No such thing as a free lunch...
When distributing these resources, we ask that you acknowledge
United Focus as the source of the information and that you cite our web address - www.unitedfocus.com.au
Free Web tips
and tricks
Tip Sheet 1 Ten website usability principles to embrace
Tip
Sheet 2 Choosing a name for your website
Tip
Sheet 3 How to make your website search engine friendly
Tip Sheet 4 How the Web can enhance your marketing activities
Tip Sheet 5 Content management systems
Tip Sheet 6 A checklist for selecting a Web developer
Free Web papers
and reports
Website Business Plan Outline (MS Word 49KB)
This template takes you through all the business and organisational issues that need to be addressed before commiting time and money to developing a new website or intranet.
Website Development Brief (MS Word 615KB)
This template document provides a structure for explaining to web developers, or an in-house team, the aims of a new website, who the target audience(s) is, its design, what features it is to employ and how you intend to maintain it. It also provides guidelines on the tender process and how developers should respond to the document.
An edited version of this brief is also available (MS Word 267KB)
BRW Australia: Web Oversights (PDF 156KB)
An article, in which Steven Smith is widely quoted, discussing how accounting firms are missing opportunities to promote their services because of poorly designed websites. Includes seven cheap ways to improve a website. BRW April 24-30 2003.
Understanding the Internet and World Wide Web (PDF 96KB)
Chapter 1 from Steven Smith's book, Living Websites, understanding the life cycle - a practical guide, outlines the history behind the World Wide Web, how it works, who regulates it and some of its specialist terms. Published in 2002.
The
Current State of Play – Online Participation and Activities
A statistical report on Australia’s Internet usage. Developed by the
Australian Government, Department of Communications, Information Technology
and the Arts (DCITA). Publication date: December 2003.
Shock of the Net (PDF 107KB)
A paper by Steven Smith. Like it or not, the Internet has infiltrated most sectors of business, government and our personal lives - and this is only the beginning. Change is here to stay! This paper contends that art galleries are not immune to the Shock of the Net and that those that do not establish and implement an effective online strategy will lose market-share to those that have done so in this increasingly online world. Published in 1998.
Digitisation of Collections Consultancy Report (PDF 596KB)
Steven Smith prepared and co-wrote the Digitation of Collections Report for the Commonwealth Department of Communications and the Arts in 1996. It was one of the first reports into the effect the digitisation of collections would have on access, preservation and collection management in Australia's museums, art galleries, libraries and archives. It also addressed Government policies with regard to the development of digital content. Published in December 1996.
The Redefining of
Museums (PDF 80KB)
A paper presented at Museums and the Web '98 Conference in Toronto, Canada,
by Steven Smith. It examines how the Internet is reshaping our thinking about
what constitutes a museum and the activities and services they may need to
provide to stay viable in the Digital Age.
Recommended books
Living Websites, understanding the life cycle – a
practical guide
Steven Smith wrote the book Living Websites, understanding the life
cycle – a practical guide in May 2002.
Living Websites is a comprehensive, practical book for non-technical
people explaining how to plan, manage, maintain and evaluate the
life cycle of their organisation's website. It provides a common-sense
framework for managing a website, based on the concept that a website
is not a stand-alone project but a living endeavour with a life cycle
that needs managing.
Visit the Living Websites website to
look at what's inside the book and to order it online.
The following books are all available through
amazon.com (www.amazon.com)
Designing Web Usability, Jakob Nielsen, New Riders Publishing, 2000
Don’t Make Me Think!, Steve Krug, New Riders Publishing, 2000
Editing Made Easy, Bruce Kaplan, Penguin Books, 2003
Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, Jeffrey Rubin
Home Page Usability - 50 Websites Deconstructed, Jakob Nielsen & Marie
Tahir, New Riders Publishing, 2002
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville
Interactivity and Design: Creating and Communicating with New Media, Ray Kristof and Amy Satran
World Wide Web Marketing, Jim Sterne, Wiley & Sons, 2001
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