Before you try and include every bit of content that you think your audience might want or need, stop and think about the type of Web site you are creating. The content required for your site will depend on the purpose of your site.

There are generally four types of Web sites that can be found on the World Wide Web. Each of these Web sites requires different content. This activity will cover the four types of Web sites and the content required for each.

The first type of Web site we will look at is a commercial site. This type of site is used by companies who want to get a Web presence. When deciding on the content for this site, you might be tempted to include only your printed materials, such as brochures. Hopefully, most of your customers will be familiar with this material and your Web site will leave them wanting more.

Don't disappoint your audience by offering them the same old stuff. Use your Web site to show the users another side of your company, one that lets them get to know you better and gain a better understanding of how the company works and your corporate goals.

In this activity you will look at the corporate Web site for Sun Microsystems and see what content is included. We have displayed the Web site in Internet Explorer for you.

The first area you will look at is human resources. You can provide information on your Web site about job openings, personnel or department listings, and information that may be of interest to potential employees, such as what your company has to offer an employee.

Here we will click on the Employment link.

The Employment Opportunities page is displayed. Here you can see the number of positions available worldwide with Sun, and instead of listing all the jobs, the user is provided with a basic search facility so they can search for jobs in the functional area and location of their choice.

Now you are going to search for a job to see how easy it is. We have scrolled down the Web page for you so you can see the search options.

Here we will click on the checkbox for Other Engineering.

Now we will click on the Colorado Headquarters option.

Next, we will click on the Find it button to see a listing of jobs that meet our criteria.

A page displaying our search results appears. We could now click on a link to display the details of a job.

Using a basic search facility such as this allows users to easily find specific items on your site, even though you have a lot of content.

Interactive content is also important on a corporate Web site. This lets you get acquainted with your customers by way of forms, e-mail links and surveys. The Sun site makes good use of interactive features. A good example is the ability to tell Sun what sort of job you are interested in.

Here we will click the Sun Agent link in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen.

The Sun Agent sign-up page is displayed. Here you have a form that lets Sun collect information about potential employees, including the educational qualifications and experience. This can be a valuable tool for Sun when it is looking to fill positions, and you could use this technique on your Web site.

Now we will click on the Home link.

Another interactive feature that you can use on your site is a download center. Here you can provide samples of your products, if possible.

We will click on the Download Center link to see Sun's download page.

The Sun Download Center page is displayed. Sun uses its download center to provide free products, try-and-buy software, source programs, and beta releases of software products.

Your company may not be able to provide samples of your products for download, but there are other things you could do. For example, you could think about getting a screen saver made for your company, and then make it available on a download page. Another promotional gimmick you could have as a download is shopping vouchers. You could talk to businesses in your area, or even Internet shopping sites, about special deals for your customers to download vouchers.

What better way to keep users coming back to your site, than by luring them with free items or ever changing specials?

Now we will click on the Back button of the browser to return to Sun's home page.

Another important content category that is found on commercial sites is company information. This provides your audience with information on your stock price, the directions of the company, mission statements and corporate goals.

To see the page, we will click on the About Sun link.

The About Sun page is displayed. On the left of the screen you can see a list of menu options for information on Sun. As you can see, Sun has provided a lot of information for its audience. This includes company information, information for investors, information on sponsorships and their environment, and health and safety policies.

When you are planning content for your company information pages, think about what information you have and what you think would interest your audience. Do you sponsor sporting teams? Are you involved with any charities? Do you have quality accreditation? Have you won any awards?

Try and include information that lets your users know about the human face of your company so they know there is more to your company than just the products or services you provide. This information could include a page for the 'Employee of the Month', success stories and professional articles, or reviews written about your company, products or services.

Now we will click on the Home link to return to Sun's home page.

As your Web site is selling not only your company, but also your products and services, it is important to include information on your products and services. This information can include fact sheets, product announcements, trade show appearances, and FAQs.

Sun provides both products and services to its customers, and has two separate sections for this information.

Here we will click on the Support, Training, and Consulting link.

The Support, Training and Consulting page is displayed.

As you can see, like Sun's other pages, this one contains a menu of links to other pages of information relating to its support, training and consulting services.

Now we will click on the vertical scroll bar to scroll to the bottom of the page.

You can now see a section of links titled 'Service Highlights'. This section provides links to the highlights of Sun's services.

We have scrolled back to the top of the page.

The final content type that you can add to a corporate site is support information. This can include technical or product support information, FAQs, whitepapers, bug reports, contact telephone numbers, problem report forms, hints, tips, and any other information that you think will be helpful for you clients when they have problems.

Here we will click on the Support Services link.

The Support Services page is displayed. Again, Sun provides a list of links to the various areas of support it provides, making it as easy as possible for a user to find the help they need.

The next type of Web site you will look at is an Intranet site. An Intranet site is an internal company Web site that is not published on the Internet. The main purpose of an Intranet site is communication and information sharing among the departments and divisions of your company.

When designing the content for an Intranet site, remember that the content is for internal use only and all employees creating and using the content should be made aware of this. It is a good idea to mark documents 'For internal use only' to avoid any accidental publishing of internal documents on the Internet.

The content that you can put on an Intranet site includes:

• corporate guidelines, policies and procedures, and forms 
• personnel information such as internal telephone and e-mail lists 
• company calendars showing upcoming events 
• memos 
• online training 
• conference room reservations.

The third type of Web site you can create is a topical Web site. Topical sites vary from being very specific, such as providing information about a football team, to composite sites that provide categories of information.

A topical site that provides information on a specific topic is designed for either information retrieval or amusement.

Here we will have a look at the Kangaroos site. The content of the site includes membership details, a shop, a footy tipping competition and other information that is of interest to the fans of the team.

Topical sites that cover a wide range of topics usually have the content arranged in categories. The various categories are not necessarily related to each other.

A good example of this type of site is Yahoo!

As you can see, the topics available are listed in categories. Each category contains a number of categories within it. To find specific sites or topics within the site, you use the Search text box.

The last type of Web site is a personal site. A personal Web site is somewhere to put your resume, publish papers, show off a portfolio of work, or just introduce yourself to the world or people who share your interests.

You will now look at a personal Web page and see the content contained within it.

Tania's Web page is displayed. There are three main sections of her Web page - a section about her, her job and links to other sites of interest.

Here we will click on the Me! link.

A page is displayed all about Tania. You can see that she has included a photo and a brief description of herself.

Basically, a personal Web page is a page that gives people an insight into who you are and provides material for people to start discussions with you. It also gives you the opportunity to meet people you never thought you would.