I have been researching websites while developing a pair of city web portals. The city web portal (or geodomain) is a special type of internet property that can take on a wide variety of flavors. The appeal of a city portal, in theory, is obvious. It has immediate relevance to the families, individuals, organizations, and businesses in and around a particular city/community.

A city is a strong identity that most everyone there shares, enjoys, and takes pride in. You find this with states. You find this with countries. We tend to take a special interest in the events and happenings around us, and the people who share our common space.

The portals that I tend to favor are typically built on a clear, quality domain name (for obvious reasons), contain varied content that is informative and which also has visual appeal, and which is laid out in a well-organized, logical manner. These three elements together form a sound foundation on which to build & brand a community web portal.

However, achieving the right balance between these three is not an easy task. Internet users are not the same, and they have diverse needs and preferences when it comes to what they want. So a developer must first figure out what their audience likes and finds useful. If this “key” can be properly identified, then success will follow.

Having a high quality domain name is the first step. A website can obviously become popular based on content alone, but a special synergy and desirable public imprint is created when the domain and content are working hand-in-hand. Add a carefully crafted site layout that is intuitive and easy to navigate, and the odds begin to work in your favor.

Based on my web portal design experience (which I would not yet describe as broad or deep), content is indeed one of the biggest challenges. Currently, there are many exciting content applications available to developers. But choosing the right content app and/or provider takes quite a bit of trial and error. You really have to survey the field.

I have learned from experience that it is much better to take one’s time and to not hurry a web design project. Rarely do developers make a series of perfect decisions. Typically, refinements and improvements will occur over a development timeline as better options begin to surface. A multi-faceted website may need to evolve gradually. Planned growth can involve complex decisions because changing or improving one part of a website may automatically affect other interconnected parts.

Lastly, don’t be overly married to a singular idea if a better one comes along. Stay open to change. Listen to constructive criticism, and evaluate its merits. I have often found that out of 20 suggestions, 18 may not be worthwhile. But the last two of those may be really important! Sometimes you have to wade through 18 dead ends to discover one or two brilliant paths.

Once you have the three elements: good domain, good content, good website design -> then comes another big challenge! Maximizing the monetization of the geodomain web portal. There are more key decisions to be made here with one of the most obvious ones being the sale of advertising. This is a hugely important area with tremendous upside potential. But it must be done properly, and preferably by sales staff who are excellent communicators and/or with relevant ad sales experience. This is a whole other topic for another day. To be continued …

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