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.

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
  • Icon Main Directory (neat buttons, bars, pictures)
    
    
  • The Free Site (icons and other graphics)
    
    
  • IconLand (icons)

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.