In part one of this blog we discussed predevelopment documents and the value such diligence adds to the overall product. Developing this documentation will improve every aspect of the project, including customer satisfaction, code stability, time management, and overall quality of work. With a clear project direction, developing a technical roadmap becomes a much more possible and manageable task.

The traditional processes and frameworks of building websites differs little from any software development. In both cases, the project needs to be divided first into layers and then into units. These are units of work which need to be built. Units have dependencies upon each other and varying levels of difficulty or complexity. Both of these factors are considered when writing an action plan. The standard of software logical layers is the classic model, view and controller. MVC refers to the data store, interface code and application code. Typically a team would begin at the database layer.

Armed with the pre-development documents discussed above, it is important get the database schema on paper. Getting your design onto paper opens up communication between developers, expresses problematic areas and at the very least adds to a team’s growing collection of site documentation. This is a great example of measure twice, cut once. The database schema is literally the brain of the website.

Application code is at the minimum the adaptor sitting on top of the database retrieving from and updating it. Application layer is where business logic gets enforced. Server resource consideration and effectiveness are factors at this layer. Designing this layer is defining the technical architecture of the project. The level of documentation sophistication varies greatly here. There is a coding syntax, called UML, which can be employed to define this layer. In practice, UML is little more than diagramming. Typical diagrams are simply boxes and arrows with brief description of what’s happening on those little arrows. An example might be: user clicks order button, check is user, check stock level, verify no holds, add order to queue, update stock, etc. No detail is too small to document. Next, the development team overlay these diagrams with the literal class names or functions required to accomplish the actions laid out.

As this process is continued, the mosaic of the software finally begins to emerge. In a sense, this step is taking the user case flows made earlier and upgrading them to a new level of complexity and relevance. Just as the user case flow allows a team to discover issues with features or usability, this analysis will expose issues in programming that are better dealt with here than later in the thick of coding with the danger of dark side of the moon syndrome. That is to say, once a programmer has gone so far in programming only to discover a problem. They might be tempted to add more code to mask the problem rather than delete existing code. If the same developer has gone into programming mode with a clear strategy, such issues would have all ready been circumvented typically resulting in more concise and effective code.

Even once programming has begun documentation should continue, now in the form of logging. Proper logging is basically making notes. Each time a unit is completed the developer would log a note stating so and any complications encountered. These logs will become invaluable in the final development stages. Project managers can review the logs and check items off their feature list. Reviewing the amount of time each unit required will aid immensely when assessing future project risk. Often, documentation produced at this stage is kept internal to be reused in future projects. However, if the client is large and technical enough, the application design too might be a welcome addition to the overall site documentation.

Interface development has changed incredibly in the last ten years. A decade ago, interface consisted of simply laying out tables and graphics while applying styles and page properties. We simply plugged in variables produced from the application code and called it done. Contemporary web technology has taken interface to a whole new level as the market demands a rich user experience. We can use our previously created wire frames as a jumping off point for developing the interface strategy. As before we list all external libraries and justify their inclusion. Some type of scripting language will likely be employed on the front-end. Whether Javascript, VBScript, or Actionscript, it is critical to get down on paper what functionality each is going to provide. What functionality is required while assessing each unit’s difficulty level? This is a technical list that should refer to specific function or class names. A complete list would be such that once completed so is the interface

In any successfully managed project should be an abundance of documentation. Some of these documents will be highly sophisticated polished products unto themselves while others might not be much more than rough notes. Regardless, they are evidence of professional diligence. At each iteration along the way we stated on paper what we intended to do, discussed the strategy with the contributors, and then did exactly what we stated. The secret to creating a quality strategy and unlocking its value is communication.

Everyone does it; if you are sick you go to a doctor. If you have a question about money you ask your financial advisor. If you want to sell your house you contact a real estate agent. What do all of these people have in common? They are all experts. They are who people turn to when they want to know more about that particular subject or field. Are you an expert? Do others in your industry turn to you for answers? How do you become an expert? The answer is in the internet, of course. Here are seven tips to use the internet on your quest to become an expert in your industry.

1. Publish content that is of interest and newsworthy.
   This is one of the biggest things you can do. Just writing about your day, how you feel and what you did last night does not help. Write about topics that affect your co-workers and topics that effect your industry.
2. Have an opinion.
   More than just writing about industry topics it is important to take a stance. A great way to get noticed is to say what you think and back it up with facts and reasons.
3. Keep up with current subjects.
   Writing about “old news” will not get you noticed. People want to read about what is happening now. An industry expert is always informed on the latest news and has an opinion worth listening to.
4. Dress the part (online, of course).
   Even if you have all of the above checked off if your blog, Twitter (wherever you are publishing information) does not look credible it will take away from what you are saying. Just think about it, even if a restaurant has the best tacos in the city, if the building and parking lot look run down and shady it will not be considered the “best place to go” or the “city’s hot spot”. It might still get visitors but they will not be what they could if the place looked nice.
5. Follow other experts.
   A good tip is to listen to what other industry experts have to say. Whether this is checking their blog frequently or following them on Twitter, find out what are they talking about.
6. Comment on blogs/articles.
   While reading what other experts are saying leave comments and thoughts. You could ask a question or present another side to the story.
7. Join social communities with groups pertaining to your industry and contribute.
   This is a great way for your name to get recognized and remembered. Connecting with others is an invaluable experience and the internet is a free, quick and easy way to do so.

A decade ago you had to publish a book or speak at a large conference to become an industry expert. With the advancement and popularity of the internet it is much easier to make a name for yourself within your industry.. Keep in mind, experts have a voice and they are not afraid to share it. What is stopping you from becoming the next expert in your field?

Nothing dashes the hopes of a new site owner more than running stats on their new pride and joy only to find that no one seems to be visiting their site.

I’ve seen countless start-ups launch fabulous sites with tons of promise only to lose their momentum due to a lack of repeat visitors. So let’s assume you’ve created a wonderful site with a good premise. You’ve gotten the initial word out and have had plenty of first-time visitors. How, then, do you get these valued visitors to come back for more?

It boils down to one very simple premise – your site has to give a user a reason to come back to your site once, twice or dozens of times per day. It isn’t easy and sometimes can take a lot of trial and error, but here are two basic strategies for transforming your first-time visitors into diehard fans.

It starts with content. People primarily use the Internet for one basic function - getting information. You must provide that information in an easily digestible fashion. That’s part of the reason why blogs and sites like Twitter have taken off. Someone can get the content they want in a quick and usable format. Web sites are all about filling a niche. Assuming you’ve found your niche, it is up to you to identify what your users want (or better yet what they need!) to see on a regular basis. Then you’ve got to provide it.

It can be painful as it takes lots of time and commitment. But content is the fuel that feeds the beast and you can’t have a successful site with it.

Do I mean to say that every successful site has someone sitting around writing new articles 24/7? No. Well, yes in a way.

The next strategy for keeping people knocking down your digital doorway is to create an online community and let them provide your content. “User-driven content” isn’t just an Internet buzz word. It’s also a great source of free content, and it builds a sense of community that can be a very powerful driving force in getting people back to your site.

When I started RotoJunkie.com in 1999, the first and most important decision made was to include a message board on the site. After word got out that there was a new place on the ‘Net to talk about how much we hate the Yankees or how bad Texas pitching can be, people started flooding to the site. What started out as a hobby and a way to teach myself HTML became a successful Web business all because of the power of online communities. We used to joke that RotoJunkie was probably playing a role in bringing down corporate America with all the lost hours that employees spent on our site during the day!

So, the concept is simple. Give your users a reason that they have to come back to your site as often as possible. Do that, then you’ll see your traffic and your profits start to rise.

Any professional chef will tell you that a dish is only as good as its ingredients. Quality and freshness often can make the difference between a signature dish at a 5-Star restaurant or your mother-in-law’s “Chicken Surprise.”

A similar edict holds true for you and your Web site. There are many ingredients that go into making a great Web site, including cutting-edge design, efficient site applications and, perhaps most importantly, quality and fresh content.

In my 10 years of managing Web site projects, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen new Web sites with the latest bells and whistles - fancy Flash intros and dynamic menu systems that pop and zing at you from every direction – only to fail at getting any significant traffic. The reason these sites ultimately failed was simple. They neglected the most important ingredient of all – good content.

Users scour the World Wide Web constantly looking for something interesting. Once they find it, they need a reason to keep coming back. There is no better way of bringing people back to your site than updating it with fresh, timely content.

So what does that entail?

First, your content doesn’t just have to be text. There are many different types of content that you can utilize to make your site special. These might include pictures, videos, software downloads or a variety of other things. Take a look at some of the most successful sites on the ‘Net like YouTube or Hulu and you can see that you don’t have to have a degree in journalism to provide something that users want to come back to see. Find out what your users want to see and provide that to them. It’s that simple.

Secondly, your content needs to be relevant. In other words, it needs to make sense to your audience. If your site provides tips for the average golfer, obviously you don’t want to put up an article about the newest advances in bowling ball technology. But beyond the obvious, make sure your content is staying up with the times. You want your users to come to your site to find out the newest information so don’t play catch-up with old, irrelevant content.

Finally, your content needs to be organized and well-managed. Fortunately, almost every Web site owner these days has the option to use a content management system to create, organize and display their content. Make sure you take advantage of this. Using a Content Management System, or CMS, allows you or your staff to update and add new content to your site without knowing much about HTML or Web development at all. Most CMS software packages include a simple editing screen that allows you to easily manipulate your content. Additionally, a typical CMS will allow you to post articles from multiple users, approve them and then provide a publish date that might be days or weeks in the future. Work flow is dramatically improved and your users get access to the latest content in a timely fashion.

Creating a successful Web site isn’t easy. It takes a lot of planning and a huge time commitment from you. Planning out a successful strategy, including quality content, can play a huge part in that success. If you keep the basics in mind, including variety, relevant and well-organized content amongst other things, you’ll see your traffic numbers increase and see your user base continue to come back for more.

In today’s edition, we’re on grammar patrol. When it comes to potential mates, there’s no bigger turnoff than poor grammar — one email littered with dangling modifiers or non-parallel constructions and we’re done. Ick.

While that may seem way too picky, perhaps in an OCD kind of way, it’s not a bad method for keeping Darwin on top — we see a chance for natural selection to work in every run-on sentence. Remember: Together, we can weed out those woeful writers.

You may not be keen on turning over your love life to Strunk and White, but we suggest you embrace a real sense of grammar diligence when it comes to blogging and developing content for your website.

We’re constantly amazed — and sickened, frankly — by how many people can’t spell to save their lives. Or by how many times we’ve stumbled upon “right” instead of “write” or “you’re” instead of “your.” OK, homophones and possessives can be tricky, but remember to just take a few minutes to re-read your blog post, link bait piece or website copy block before pushing the “publish” button.

We understand not everyone went to journalism school or snuggled at night with a copy of The Associated Press style guide. If grammar isn’t your strong suit, find someone with a better eye and ask them to give your copy a once-over. As professional writers, we can’t tell you how wholly unprofessional those awkward constructions and misspellings look — and how much damage they can inflict. You will lose readers, respect and, ultimately, business because of those errors.

So, do yourself a favor and use one of the 6,392 dictionaries and thesauri available online when sitting down to write. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or question your word choice and sentence construction. Pick up a couple of grammar and style books if it’s not a strong suit, and make sure to scour the Internet for sources. We’re big fans of Copyblogger, for example.

But, in the end, you can’t go wrong with the O.G. of copywriting manuals: Strunk and White, baby. Pick up another old newspaper editor’s favorite, William Zinser’s “On Writing Well,” while you’re adding to your copywriting library.

The bottom line is this: Dedicate time to honing your writing and editing skills. Your ever-increasing roster of visitors and clients (as well as your ever-expanding bank account) will thank you.

For a newspaper reporter, there’s nothing worse than waking up in the morning to find a terrible — or worse, misspelled — headline atop your big scoop. Nothing ruins a good, resume-worthy story faster than having a sleepy copy editor decide to spell “bucks” with an “f,” as in: “MAYOR CAUGHT PILFERING BIG BUCKS.”

The most grating part, as any reporter will quickly tell you, is that they almost always never write the headlines. But they’ll be the first to tell you how important they are — a good headline is the Holy Grail of entry points, guaranteed to ensnare readers who otherwise might never read your story.

This maxim is actually more important on the Internet, where people are already in a hurry and used to blowing through mountains of information in a matter of minutes. Often, a catchy, memorable, intriguing and all-around entertaining headline is the only shot you have at getting visitors to actually give your content a look.

And, unlike those ungrateful reporters, bloggers, content developers, SEO heads and other online copy writers can’t typically blame a copy editor. Odds are you’re your own writer, editor and coffee-fetcher. Feeling your pain, and still getting our own coffee, we at lifeBLUE wanted to offer a few tips for writing good headlines for blog posts, link bait, viral pieces and all other manner of social media content. So, here we go:

1. Be succint

Don’t give all your good stuff away in the headline. A piece titled “Nightmare at Lambert International Airport As Drunken Passengers Refuse to Stop Screaming ‘Cockpit’ and Throwing Pretzel Bags While Bemoaning the Lost Genius of Jeff Buckley” may intrigue a few frequent fliers and JB fans, but others will see little reason to read further. Instead, stick with something a little shorter and attention-grabbing, something that leaves readers of all backgrounds wanting to learn more. Something like “Nightmare at Lambert” or “Nightmare at 35,000 Feet.” We do miss JB, though. Tragedy.

2. Use active verbs and bold words

That’s bold as in strong and connoting action and authority, not bold as in bold. Although, it is always a good idea to find ways to make your headlines stand out in color or size from the rest of the text. Using passive constructions like “to be” verbs and the past tense are shown over and over again in readership studies to be boring gateways to nowhere. You’re only using a few words to lure people to your cache of content, so make them stand out and sound good and strong to the ear.

3. Provocative

It’s much easier to do this online than in print. Take a stand in your headline, call someone out or tease us with your amazing knowledge. If you really know why someone is a complete jerk, then say so, using bold words, in your headline. But being provocative doesn’t necessarily have to be loud and in-your-face. Don’t be afraid to provoke thought, either. Some folks might turn away from a headline blaring “Why Judas Iscariot Totally Sucks,” so look for another way to bring people to your copy. How about: “Christ’s Downfall Started With a Kiss.” We’re cool with JC, here, too, so we’ll probably read both.

4. Classify the Copy

Social media sites like Digg and Reddit may soon render this rule obsolete, as stories simply headlined “Cool” or “Wow” will invariably be Dugg about 5,683 times. But it’s still a good idea, especially for link bait and viral pieces, to give readers some semblance of what your content is all about.

5. Embrace lists and pictures

This is another online rule driven by social media and networking sites. While lists are incredibly standard, almost cliched means of communicating information, they’re also never going away because people love to read them. Give us 10 easy tips or hints or reasons Karl Rove sucks and we’ll devour each one. It’s human nature to want something neatly packaged and chronological. Don’t churn out list after list, but don’t be afraid to throw some “Why XXX is Destroying America” or “Ten Reasons XXX Gives Me a Headache” list copy out there. The picture rule is simple. If you’re posting on social media sites, put this little abbreviation (PIC) in your headline, assuming you have a picture. It’s amazing how many high-traffic pieces become high-traffic because of that little abbreviation — and because there’s a great photo on the page, too. If you’ve got great art, let the reader know.

6 . Be Funny, Never Pun-ny and Think, Darn It, Think

Stay far away from puns in headlines. Very far. They’re awful, old “tools” that readers today will recognize as lame and unworthy of their precious time from a mile away. Dedicate real chunks of time to crafting funny, entertaining, provocative and engaging headlines. It makes no sense to spend three hours writing a top-notch blog post or link bait piece only to slap some stupid, completely uninteresting and unappealing headline on top after 4.39 seconds of thought.

Got it? Speaking of JC, though, we’ll leave you with one of our all-time favorite headlines. After a rain-swollen river threatened to flood a Pennsylvania town twice in two days, readers woke up the next morning to this gem: “Second Coming of Crest.”

That, friends, is a keeper.