TIPS FOR DESIGNING A MARKET WEB SITE
We spent many hours surfing for market web sites and related issues.
We've come up with a few tentative do's and don'ts plus some notions
about what makes an interesting and effective presentation. You
can take these into consideration when creating your own web pages
-- but remember, they're just suggestions! The Internet is still
in its infancy. There are few hard/fast rules; so experiment to
come up with a design that's best for your purposes.
by OPENAIR-MARKET NET, 03/01/99. Feedback, comments, and criticism are always welcome<mar@interaccess.com>.
Content: Include complete concise information.
Design: Organize your site well.
Tips: Miscellaneous hints.
Examples: Sites to review
Content: Include complete concise information.
- Include as much information as possible about your market,
without overstating the obvious. This will vary, of course, depending
on the type of market or purpose of your site.
- Provide information about practical things like how to get
there, where to park, etc. You want to stress the convenience
factor and show that you have thought about your potential sellers
and/or shoppers.
- Provide clear directions, including exact address, major crossroads,
or nearby landmarks. You may know where "Hightown" or
"Route 27" are, but not everyone knows -- people access
your site from all over the world!
- Exact information on when your are open -- seasons, dates,
days, opening and closing times.
- Parking and public transportation information.
- Size of the market in terms of number of vendors.
- Information on availability of food, variety of food, and
picnic facilities if they exist.
- Whether or not there are handicapped facilities available
(i.e., special parking, ramps, etc.)
- Vendor rates for space and/or a contact number.
- Special information, such as "Open regardless of weather",
"Reduced admission for seniors", etc.
- Telephone number, e-mail address, snail mail address, and/or
fax # for further information.
- Give a good idea of the type of market you have, what kinds
of things people are likely to find, any specialty areas, etc.
- Existence of extra services and amenities such as keys made,
knives sharpened, glassware repaired, strolling musicians, and
a children's play area.
- Nearby points of interest such as tourist landmarks, popular
restaurants, and museums.
Design
- Avoid putting too much information on a single web page. Too
much data on a page will take a long time to download, and people
can get very impatient. They're liable to just push "STOP"
and go on to something else without even looking at your site.
- Be especially careful about the use of graphics. Too many
graphics can clutter up a page and they take much longer to download
than straight text does.
- Sparingly use unusual icons, colorful bars and buttons. Try
to have an overall color scheme or design. Many people don't have
a graphical browser, or have a very basic one. Too many graphics
or a complex background may make the text on your page difficult
for them to read.
- The user should be able to focus quickly on what the site
is about and determine how to get the information they are particularly
interested in.
- If you do have a lot information to convey, set up a 'top'
page, with links to sub-pages containing the detailed information
on different topics. Or, construct your page with a "Table
of Contents" at the top, and internal links to specific sections
of the page.
- By having multiple pages, you are more likely to have multiple-references
in search engines, i.e., more 'hits' on your site when someone
searches for relevant words.
- If you are including pictures, use smaller pictures. If you
want a larger picture consider having a small picture that is
clickable to a bigger image, at the discretion of the user.
- Try to include a picture of something especially interesting
or unique to your market. For example, rather than a generic close-up
of peppers and carrots, include a picture of an unusual colorful
looking stall. Interesting portraits/profiles of individual vendors
can help provide a real 'feel' for the market.
- Here are some web sites with 'tools' to help add interest
to your site
Accessibility: Make it easy to find and use your site
- Be sure to create a "TITLE" for your page. Some
search engines look at just the URL and title. This will increase
your chances of being 'hit'. It looks more professional to have
a title, and it also provides more information to help the user
decide if they actually want to go to your site.
- Write your TITLE carefully, be sure to include key words such
as: Flea Market, Farmers Market, and perhaps the name of your
state/city.
- At the bottom of each sub-page, include a "Back to Home
Page" link and a link to the "Previous" or "Next"
page. Remember, someone may start on a sub-page of your
site, through a word search. If they just press the "Back"
button on their browser, they are going to go back to the previous
page they visited from whatever site they were looking at before
yours - NOT to the previous page of your site. You want
to encourage them to look at your complete site, not just the
particular page they start out on.
- Review your site carefully and often. Out-dated or unclear
information is worse than none at all. If you have links to other
sites, check them frequently - URL's often change or go out of
existence. It's frustrating to the user to click on things and
not be able to access them.
- Include the date the site was created and/or last updated.
This lets people know you are keeping it current, and will give
them an idea if there is any new information since the last time
they visited your site. (If you are adding new information, you
might want to use a "NEW" icon to alert them to that
fact.)
Tips: Miscellaneous Hints
- Find a web guru to help you. A web guru is someone who has
been on the Internet six months longer than you have. This is
how we learned most of what we know about the Internet. Web gurus
can be found at local universities, cyber cafes,
and through e-mailing people who you think have cool web sites.
- Search for other sites to link from your page. Also, search
for sites where you can request that you be listed / linked. Ask
your city or state's official site to link to you. Perhaps, all
the markets in your state could set up a single meta-site.
- Look around the Web at other market sites - you'll get lots
of ideas. We suggest you start out on OPENAIR-MARKET NET (of course!).
Look through the external sites we have linked there, as well
as the sub-pages we have linked - they represent a big cross-section
of sites and topics.
- Try searching for market-related terms, using various search
engines. The best search engine we've found for this is "ALTA VISTA".
Examples: Sites to review
Here are some sites we thought were interesting and well-designed
- The Roadium Open Air Market,
Los Angeles, California -- This is a good example of a large commercially
run market. Well organized, broken down into sub-pages, lots of
information on specific merchandise and services available, as
well as contact information.
- Mark Taper Intergenerational Center,
Van Nuys, California -- is more of an 'anecdotal' site: interesting
pictures (big enough to get a good look at, but small enough not
to take forever to download,) brief history and purpose statement.
- The Unofficial New Maxwell Street Market Homepage
- Okay, we couldn't resist including something from our own site.
This should give you some idea of how in-depth you can go, if
you are interested in exploring the history of a particular market
and the whole idea of public markets.
Created by Barbara Balkin.
<mar@interaccess.com>
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