GPayne checkin’ in! Amidst the rush of returning to school last week I made it a priority to check back in with Evelyn Helminen about my website. To get up to date on how this whole website audit thing started, click the link to my previous post. In my previous post I detail how Evelyn audited my website’s purpose, vision, content, and navigation, and in the end, I decided to start over! I bought a new domain name (www.georgemitchellpayne.com) for 2 years, switched my host from WordPress to Weebly, and created an all new outlook for my e-portfolio. How is it different?
- Weebly
- WordPress was a great host and platform to learn how to manage a website, but Weebly has an ease of use and polished look that I like more. Weebly uses a drag-and-drop interface similar to iMovie and Garageband, but for website design it’s great! There aren’t too many choices and the mobility of those options can make each page very unique. For the purpose of my website, which is to function as a polished and easy to navigate e-portfolio Weebly was just what I was looking for, even though there are a few options I don’t have access to without a premium account.
- E-portfolio
- I only need my e-portfolio to do a few things, but I need it to do them very well. First, I need it to make me look good. Weebly has a very polished look to it and has a lot of nice themes to choose from. Large pictures display perfectly both in the background and the foreground, and some of the page formats are specifically designed to showcase those large photos.
- Pages
- Because it’s so easy on the eyes, it makes me as the subject of the website easy to understand. Instead of overloading my audience with everything that might be important, my new website pushed me to be as streamlined about my delivery as it is about displaying my information. Thus, I limited myself to 5 menu items, only 2 of which have drop down menu items, streamlining my navigation.
- Links
- To make navigation even clearer however, I embedded links in the text on each page so that as my audience finishes reading each page, context-specific links to other parts of my website are clearly displayed in a light turquoise color. It’s obvious now that I misunderstood “link theory” in my old website, which frustrated everyone from my mom to my supervisor, so I started over there, too. Now, it’s easier for people to navigate to relevant content.
- Impact
- I think the most significant difference in my new website is the impact it has. It conveys purpose, vision, and content much better now, which makes me proud to share it. I no longer hesitate to share my URL with potential employers. I’m simply confident that it tells my story appropriately and effectively when I’m not telling it out loud.
- Possibilities
- Lastly, I think the most exciting thing about my new website are the possibilities. There are quite a few options I want to try out in the future, but most notably is embedding video. Instead of forcing people to read about me, I’m going to upload a video introduction, as well as a short video to replace the content on the Looking Ahead page. So if and when potential employers land on my website, they can hear and see who I am, what I’m good at, and what I intend to do in my future career.
Take a look at my new website to see what I’m talking about! And if you get a chance check out an article about WordPress vs. Weebly that is circulating around the DLC now.