What makes an effective website?

I think what makes an effective website is the fact that it MUST accessible, user-friendly, and easy to use. If I was going to create my website, I would use weebly.com. I looked over weebly and joined weebly and I thought that it was a great way to create a website. It is simple to use, it has tutorials, and it is becoming very popular.

My website will have the schools purpose, vision, and mission posted on the site. This lets others know what we stand for. My site is going to be user-friendly and appealing to those who log on to the site because with the way technology is, websites say a lot about you. Some people check out a website before they even are willing to go to a place and if the website doesn't meet the standards, they don't go. This tells me that first impressions are everything and I want my school to have great, lasting first impression. I am also going to put pictures of my students interacting with each other and the staff on the page. This lets people see how we work together to achieve a common goal. An “About Us” page is a must. This gives others the insight on the history and character of the school. A great way to do this would be to create an animoto, like the one I created in class to highlight the school. This will be entertaining and let others see how your school works. My website is also going to have a staff directory page and a link to other important sites page. This goes back to being user friendly and accessible. It is also a must to have school calendar and a sports page. These two things may be the two most important things on the site. Being that they are pushing teachers to use edline and email more, I am going to have a link to both of those on my site.

I want to do all that I can to ensure that my site is appealing and informative to all who visit. I am also going to have a place where those who visit can comment and make suggestions on the layout and design of the website. This will give me direct feedback to what my audience is thinking and how I can best support them.