Book Review: Website Owners Manual
I recently purchased a copy of the Website Owners Manual by Paul Boag (@boagworld). This book is anything but the normal "How to write a website" book. It is aimed at those who manage the whole process of website development, deployment and day to day upkeep of websites.
Paul himself is the host of the popular podcast on Boagworld and co-founder of Headscape, a UK based web design agency. His main goal in the industry is helping to acheive better communication between website developers / owners and their clients and stakeholders and this is the whole point of this book. It explains every aspect of a site only leaving out the technical side.
What is covered?
The book takes you on the complete journey of a website from initial concept through to testing, promotion and engaging your users.
- Secrets to a successful website (Download chapter as PDF)
- Stress-free planning
- The perfect team
- Differences over design
- Creating killer content
- User centric design
- Ensuring access for all
- Taking control
- Decoding technobabble
- Driving traffic
- Engaging your visitors
- Planning for the future
In each chapter, Paul uses his vast experience to guide the website owner through each section using proven strategies from start to finish.
The chapters tackle common problems that all those involved will tackle on one project or another e.g. design by committee, how to give good feedback and creating user persona’s. Each chapter concludes with a set of action points which can be used as a summary of each chapter and also to build an action plan for your site and the steps you should take. This is a welcome break from other more technical books which miss the little details like this and is what makes this book stand out from the crowd.
If you have any part in a website project either as a manager or developer then this book is for you. There is a huge amount of information packed into the 259 pages of content and every single bit is invaluable.
If you want to get your hands on a copy then try:
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