Roger Parker's Guide to Web Content and Design

Two things make Roger Parker¹s Guide to Web Content and Design invaluable: its focus on marketing for small business owners/managers and its easy-to-read writing style. I haven¹t found another book on this subject that comes remotely close to Roger¹s in its accessibility, readability, and critically important content for anyone doing business in the Œ90s. This well-written, excellently organized book is a must-have for every small business owner who¹s thinking about establishing an online presence or who already has one. Among the topics Roger addresses: what are the characteristics of a good home page, how Web page design differs from print design, what makes a good Web site address, how to design a Web site, how to involve visitors, how to promote a Web site, how to keep a Web site up-to-date and how to improve it. Roger reminds us that a Web site will always be a work in progress and therefore in need of constant attention. Roger Parker¹s Guide to Web Content and Design also includes helpful checklists that allow readers to identify their market, analyze Web sites they visit, and review and improve their own Web site. Readers are encouraged to copy these worksheets and keep them in a notebook. Roger¹s book is not only helpful ‹ it¹s also an inspiration, especially to a technologically challenged person like me. Roger tells readers that they can produce a Web site that¹s as effective and impressive as any company with a huge advertising budget. Now that¹s something this small-business owner with limited resources loves to hear!

This book might seem expensive but is genuinely an outstanding value. Parker packs more information into 250 large, well-written pages than anyone else. Particularly useful are the almost dozen checklists and worksheets. My copy is littered with Post-it notes marking pages with ideas to incorporate in a site. An excellent value -- all meat, no fluff.

This book has been a real help to our company as we plan our Web site! We find ourselves referring back to it each step of the way to make sure we didn't forget anything. It's not a technical manual, and that's good for me--it'll be helpful for managers like myself who must plan the content and direction of a Web site, and approve the design. We have lots of Roger C. Parker's books because his approach is so practical, and his use of examples is so helpful. This book is no exception! Thanks, Roger, for another great book for marketing folks!

Roger Parker's "Web Content and Design" is a "must have" resource for anyone designing web sites. This book is unusual in that it addresses the concerns of both the neophyte and the seasoned publisher. An incredible ammount of information and insight is provided that is absolutely on target and much of which is nowhere else availible. I wish that this resource had been availible over a year ago, when I began producing Web sites commercially. Parker's treatment of Web Strategy, his Eight Keys to Organizing Web Site Development, and the numerous checklists and design hints provided are invaluable to even the most experienced Web Site designer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about producing a professional, well designed Web site.

Roger C. Parker's Web Content and Design: 8 Steps to Success helped me start off on the right foot by planning, rather than worrying about colors and clip art. The book's numerous worksheets forced me to identify my web site's goals, my message and the information needs of my visitors before I started working.Web Content and Design provided the step-by-step guidance I needed and it helped me better direct the efforts of the freelancers I'm working with. Parker obviously approaches web site design from a small business, as opposed, to a designer background.