As the end of my contract with Alaska Airlines winds down and I’m getting read to move to Ecuador again in January, I’m starting to revamp the One Shore website in preparation for actively searching for freelance QA and development work.
Besides the visual overhaul it’s badly in need of, and some code cleanup I’ve been avoiding, what the site needs most is some targeted, personal content to replace the impersonal jargon and unfocused scattershot ramble of bullet points in the services description.
My first goal is to get rid of the standard links (products, services, about us, contact us) as much as possible or at least eliminate them as the primary means of discovery. To do this, I’ll try to provide concise, text describing each of these is a visually pleasing way on the home page, with links to details.
My second goal is to have a clear focus on what One Shore I can provide. That means I need to think about what I want to offer, which in turn means deciding what I like.
I came up with the following 3 point list (because I wanted to limit it to 3 points):
- Open Source tools
- Agile methods
- Distributed teams
I was originally going to title this post “What I like” and then go over those three things, but that will have to wait for another day when I’m more ambitious. I might write a few sections such as “What I like”, “What I’m working on”, & “What I can do for you”.
My third goal is to have regularly updated, relevant content on the one-shore.com website. That could mean putting my blog feed on the home page, or just links to the more relevant and better written posts (note to self: write better, more relevant blog posts) or creating a separate work blog. Maybe this will go back to being my travel blog. It also means writing (and fleshing out existing) tutorials and articles. It should probably also include relevant links, perhaps with a bit commentary (the way a blog is supposed to be.)
So, to reiterate, I will need to come up with content sections for:
- What I like
- What I’m working on
- What I can do for you
Include regular blog posts with summaries,
Have articles and tutorials (which I need to write or revise from my blog):
Provide links to interesting, relevant sites and stories on the web
and move my contact information to the home page. (The contact form could potentially be a modal/lightbox)
Fijiaaron 