Proposal on Website Design and Your Career in It Com 130

PROPOSAL ON WEBSITE DESIGN AND YOUR CAREER IN IT

Prepared for Ð'- Faculty Ð'- University of Phoenix

As an inclusion to the report entitled Website Design and your Career in IT

By Ð'- Student Ð'- COM 130

In this final research project I propose to write about website design and pursuing a

career in Web Development.

I have been developing websites for over 20 years and am currently the CEO of

Sterling Design Webmasters based in Denver Colorado. I initially became interested in

web design as a way of understanding all components of Internet portals known as

websites. When I first started my education in website design the Internet was still

relatively new and website construction and design was being done by a very small group

of developers. I am completely self-taught and have not taken any formal training on this

subject.

The elements I intend on focusing on are basic requirements of web development,

time factors, marketing and competitive pricing. I will close this research project on the

benefits associated with this type of career as well as the importance of ongoing research

and education.

Website Development and

Your Career in IT

Eric Parks

University of Phoenix

November 10, 2007

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Website Components

2.1 Background

2.2 Font

2.3 Images

2.4 Content

2.5 Meta Tags

3.0 Multimedia Solutions

3.1 Flash

3.2 Java

4.0 E-commerce Sites

4.1 Secure Pages

4.2 Shopping Carts

4.3 Credit Card Processing

5.0 Web Design Software

5.1 Coffee Cup

5.2 Web Studio

5.3 FrontPage

6.0 Time Management

6.1 Templates

7.0 Search Engine Submission

7.1 Submission Services

7.2 Page Ranking

7.3 Meta Tag Optimizers

8.0 Marketing For Designers

8.1 Affiliate Programs

8.2 Direct Email

9.0 How to Pursue a Career in Website

Design

10.0 Presentation Summary

11.0 Survey Results

References

List of Illustrations

Figure 1. Pie chart reflecting survey results in answer to the question about why individuals entered the IT field.

Figure 2. Visio object reflecting the many components to website design.

ABSTRACT

Since the Internet is a relatively new technology, web design is equally a fairly new

career path. In the early days of the Internet, highly educated individuals in the Internet

field implemented most all web design.

With the recent development of web design software, the design of websites has

become less of a specialized field. Having a working knowledge of Hypertext markup

language (HTML) is no longer necessary for individuals interested in becoming a web

developer but simply having a basic knowledge of rudimentary design components.

Key topics include website components and layout, multimedia solutions, e-commerce

sites, web design software, time management, search engine submission and independent

webdesign marketing. An explanation of how all these topics need to be explored when

assembling a unique website that attracts return visitors. The paper concludes with the

benefits of this career and the need for constant education to remain competitive.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Since the development of the Internet as we know it in 1990,

Hauben, M (1993), the use and application for the average computer user has grown at a

phenomenal rate. Initially the websites were created my professional designers with a

vast knowledge of hypertext markup language (HTML).

HTML is the code that allows websites to be designed and manipulated.

The Internet is