Lifestart is an organisation based in Sydney focused on helping special kids. They run and manage an early childhood intervention and school age services program for children with Down Syndrome, Autism, delays in development, or at risk of delay.

This new, customised website is actually a combination of a blog and traditional website utilising the Wordpress publishing system. Why did we choose this platfom for Lifestart’s new site? Because it totally suits the needs of the organisation which requires an easy to use content management system to distribute the latest news, events and vital information for kids and families requiring their help.

In addition it’s got RSS feeds built in to the system and is very search engine friendly - something every business wants.

You can check out more about Lifestart’s family-centred approach at www.lifestart.org.au or at Wikipedia/Lifestart.

PS. All the drawings at the top of each web page were drawn by children at Lifestart’s Early Childhood Intervention Centres.

Making a commitment to regularly update content ( such as copy, images, video, audio) on your business website or web blog is a big step forward. A dedicated allotment of time, people resources, enthusiasm and discipline is required along with a back-up plan for when you decide you need a holiday.

Setting realistic goals and sticking to them is important. For a small business, 4 hours a month may be all that is required to update a website or blog.

On the other hand a large business that sells travel and tourism products online, may require one or two dedicated staff to spend a few days a week, updating products (eg. rates, itineraries, copy and images) and processing online orders and enquiries.

So whether a website is small or large, content updates require real people. And people (whether it is before or after lunch) require a set number of hours or days each week or month, to create quality content.

Sydney Photoart owner, Carsten Burmeister describes himself as an “urban photographer”, preferring Sydney’s cityscape to the traditional “outback” panoramic landscapes. A digital photographer since 1998 his style of photography, uses “light to the maximum”, composition and attention to detail. With digital tools available for the finishing touches, Carsten produces “evocative photoart” like the black and white images above.

When designing a new brochure or website, the right images are very important. Some business owners prefer to shoot their own photos and can do a great job if they have a background or interest in photography. Others, shoot images with no thought about composition, lighting or resolution creating headaches for graphic and web designers who end up spending time and money trying to fix the images up in Photoshop. The results can be “good” and sometimes “not so good”.

Photolibraries can be very cost effective with usually a wide variety of professional photographers’ images to choose from. However that doesn’t always suit a business who wants to display images of their Yoga centre or hotel or restaurant. For personalised images you need a professional photographer.

So do happy snaps qualify as good content? Absolutely. They are great for blogs and news posts online and can be absolute gems when treated and cropped. Some may even qualify as “hero” shots remaining as more permanent fixtures on a website.

As for print, well… print does demand high resolution images and a more professional approach. Generally happy snaps can work if you don’t expect too much from them (eg. not to be used as a hero shot) and if they are kept relatively small and compact. The reason being printed brochures and magazines are not as forgiving as a website and will show up a photo’s flaws immediately.

In conclusion, yes a happy snap can qualify as good content! But… usually that happy snap relies on professional art direction, good design and retouching expertise to make it just right! In other words, a good photo is art!