Domain name and Web hosting research

The websites I looked at were all part of larger campaigns. Oxfam has several shops that sell donated items and give the profit to their cause, and all of the charities advertise, either on TV or on posters and billboards and through sponsoring causes.
These websites are hosted and registered but it is difficult to find out who hosts them because they all have their own domain names that are not amalgamated with their hosts'. It is possible that the charities have servers and therefore host their own websites, however it is hard to believe as that would mean that a lot of the money they earn would go on administration and server maintenence, and charities earn their money from donations.

Domain name registration requires that the person that owns the website gets their website to a server and pays weekly or monthly in order to keep their site up. Then they can choose to buy a domain from a company that will again charge them a weekly or monthly fee. Alternatively, big companies, especially ones that recieves lots of visitors to their website, may buy their own servers and then can have a free domain that they set.
Applying this to my website, it would be much the same story; given that my website may theoretically recieve quite a lot of hits, it would not be worth buying servers because a charity website would not be as big as, for example, a social networking site, that would get thousands of hits a day, and those are the kind of websites that require their own servers.
However, as most of my income, given that my website is also a charity website, would come from donations and fundraising, I would have to make sure that only a little of that money went to web hosting.

Report on Website Findings

Overall, after comparing the websites in the previous post, it is difficult to pinpoint what is conventional for a website because so many of the websites deviated from or challenged those conventions.
Obviously there is a rough layout for a conventional website - there is always a navbar or at least a set of buttons that lead you around the site rather than following the pages in order to reach more content.
Also, all of the websites I visited had a logo in the top left corner. There is no reason to deviate from this convention as this works very well in attracting the readers attention. Therefore I will follow this convention in order to do the same - indicate to the reader what they are viewing in a place that is easily seen.
I also noticed that the background tends to be a pale colour or white (often white). This is so that the text and pictures stand out against the background - test is usually in a dark colour - either black or in the colour associated with the website, i.e. the text on the NSPCC website is green, the RSPCA's is blue.
I want to make my background green because having text on a white background may make the website look uninteresting to younger viewers. However, following conventions, I will make the green pale in order to make the text stand out.
So my website will include a logo in the top left, and a navbar for easy navigation.
I will include photographs on the main page, as the websites I have looked at have done. This will help to break up the text and add interest to the page as well as engaging the reader.
I have found looking at other websites very useful in visualising my website and pinpointing how I can make my website more accessible and interesting to my target audience and other audiences.

Website comparison

This is the website for the RSPCA.
Their logo is shown in the top left corner of the website which is conventional for a website of this type. There is a banner across the top and a sidebar; both of which are in the same blue as the RSPCA logo. This helps viewers to associate the website with the RSPCA and enforces their logo.
The background of the banner is a dog looking through a cage. The picture focuses on the dog's eyes which makes the image solemn and emotional. This means that viewers are instantly reminded of animal cruelty when they look at the website, which may encourage them to donate to the charity.
On the very left of the banner is the number for their 24-hour cruelty and advice line, which is helpful for anyone who is visiting the website to look for their number. The text is in white, which stands out boldly against the background, and again is reminiscent of their logo.
The sidebar is in the same blue as the banner, which ties the two areas together, and contains links to encourage easy navigation around the site. Again, this text is in white, which stands out so that viewers are attracted to it.
There is a button two-thirds of the way down the sidebar which is animated. The screenshot above shows the button frozen on a dog with the caption 'Want to play?'. The button is in yellow which again stands out from the blue but also lightens to mood of that particular area.
In the centre of the screen there is a block of text which appears to be news. This helps the viewer to understand what work they are doing with the community and, in this respect, may encourage donations, as the good work they do is evident through these posts. It also means returning visitors can keep track of the charity's activity.
Right of centre of the page, there is a column with a background colour of light yellow. This helps to separate the content of this column from the news items. It contains several small images, which attract the eye and aid the reader in their understanding of the text. There is also a 'donate now' button on the top-left of this column. It, again, stands out because of its colours; yellow, orange and blue. This attracts the viewers' eye.
The colour scheme of this website is continuous and simple - the eye of the viewer is not confused by so many colours, and the blue helps the association with the charity itself.
The RSPCA website is a very conventional website - it is laid out well meaning the viewers' eye is not confused and the colour scheme is even and simple. The text on the page does not change a lot - there are only one or two different fonts presented, so that it helps to tie the page together.

This is the website for the WWF.
The logo for the charity is in the top left corner, which is again very conventional. However the rest of the home page does not appear very conventional. There is a set of links at the top of the page, however they are not the usual links that are shown to navigate the viewer around a website. This is done by pictures, tabs and banners.
The banner has a simple colour scheme - it is black with white text and a search bar, meaning the banner reflects the colours in the logo. The tabs reading 'what we do' and 'how you can help' are in grey which adds an extra colour but overall the only area which stands out in this top section of the page is the the 'donate now' button in green. Green in instantly reminiscent of rainforests and nature in general which reinforces what the charity does.
The green also ties in with the large picture beneath of a seahorse, however, this may be a coincidence because I am aware it is possible that picture is changed often, however the colour of the donate button may be changed too, so I cannot make a judgement on how well it does or does not tie in.
The text on this picture is very large and in white, so it stands out among the greens and blacks surrounding it. The picture is a link to a page that contains news relevant to this picture. Most of the links on this page work in this way - the image below of the insect, the 'join the wave' button, and the 'vote earth' button provide links to elsewhere on the website. The text is organized in a very clever way - the first button with the insect has the words 'we do' above it, and the words 'urgent work to reverse species decline' across the bottom of the button. It forms a coherent sentance, as does the 'you can' button next to it. This encourages the reader to ask a question, and then, instantly, it is answered, which is a very good way of encouraging the viewer's interest.
Beneath the 'vote earth' button there are several buttons, in different colours, that guide the viewers to more areas of the site, and beneath the insect button and the 'join the wave' button, there are some small news snippets that lead, again, into other areas of the site.
This website is quite unconventional due to the large picture that assualts the viewer as they enter the site, and due to the large amount of buttons that lead the viewer around the site. Also unconventional are the news snippets right at the bottom of the page, and the lack of a navigation bar.
This is the website for the NSPCC.
I have seen so far that generally the logo for the charity is in the top left corner, however, this isn't the case. In its place is a logo for ChildLine, a service run by the NSPCC. Next to it is the NSPCC helpline number.
I believe they have challenged these conventions in order to make finding these numbers easy - perhaps for viewers who specifically need either number, but are not interested in the rest of the website.
Because of this placement, the banner is positioned further down the page, and shows a broad stripe of green, which links the banner with the numbers above. This is the NSPCC's staple colour. The text on the banner is the NSPCC's slogan and it is shown in white so that it stands out against the green.
The website sticks to conventions in that it has a navigation bar which provides links to other ares of the website. These are in black except for the 'donate' link which is in purple. Purple stands out against green and highlights the donate button in order to draw the viewer's eye.
There is a search bar beneath which means that viewers can quickly find what they are looking for on the website. It also means that the website is accessible to viewers of all ages as they only have to search for what they are looking for without being particularly capable of using the internet or computers in general.
Below the search bar are three pictures which again draw the viewer's attention and add interest to the page. The captions beneath the pictures have green backgrounds to highlight them and tie the colour scheme together.
Beneath this are snippets of news, all of which are links that guide you to other areas of the site, reports and information on the NSPCC's work.
This website is mostly conventional, with the exceptions of the positioning of news snippets and the position of the header.
This is the Oxfam website.
The first thing that strikes the viewer is that the website is exciting and colourful. The colour scheme is quite broad in that encompasses orange, blue and green, as well as red and white.
The banner is very minimal, with the logo in the top left, and is in light green, the colour that is associated with them. There is a search bar which aids viewers in finding what they want to find quickly.
There is a searchbar just below the banner. The website is the only one so far in which the 'donate' button is not written in a different colour or on a button, so it does not stand out. However, it does have a prime position on the webpage in that it is clear and uncluttered.
The rest of the website consists of coloured buttons that work as advertisments for their campaigns. Under the heading 'latest from Oxfam', there are a series of links that lead the viewer to different areas of the website.
There is a heading just to the left of this that talks about the climate in Bangladesh. The picture draws the viewer's eye, and encourages us to read the article. There is little text so that the overall layout of the website is not compromised and the viewer does not get bored of reading the text.