I posted this thread in IMHO and it disappeared in double-quick time. Here’s hoping GQ does the trick:
I am planning to make a web page for my mother. She does free-lance work in NGOs in finance, surveys, auditing, document translations, etc. She wants to expand her horizons, so to speak, so we thought making a website would be a good first step. I have started an account on Google Pages, which looks easy to use. Basically it is something I can create a web page easily on, and something that will be easy for her to maintain and add to in the future.
That’s it for the background. I would like input on what would consitute a professional looking ‘personal’ web page. Any reference websites would be great as a starting point. The worst part is that I am stuck on what to write on the front page. Something like ‘Welcome to my web-page’, or something of that nature seems so cheesy. I have links to her published papers, PhD thesis, probably some work she has done for international NGOs, but I’ll be damned if I know what a good way to present it all would be. Any links, inputs, advice will be greatly appreciated.
Since your post has no factual answer, IMHO was the correct forum, and not GQ.
The saying, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” is quite appropriate here. There is no single correct or incorrect approach to defining a “professional-looking” web page. Different strokes for different folks. Any specific examples one may post here would only be subjective and not from the point of view of your mother.
Disclaimer: I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ no websites. Just a disinterested websurfer.
As a front page, perhaps you could try a short professional biography and a summary of “What Mrs. Jo Can Do for Your NGO,” with a small image of her headshot. Keep it short, something that will fit on one screen without scrolling. As you say, it’s really just a placeholder; all the meaty information is going to be in the links.
And I’m sure you know the stuff to avoid: music, animated icons, busy backgrounds, pictures of her dog, etc.
For people in this situation (starting up, unsure of “a look”) I generally recommend looking at other websites in the same field that you’ll be in and making note of what you like and don’t like. Also, compile a list of what information you want on the site, and figure out how it would best be split up in terms of page count/information allocation.
