Beginner's guide to planning a site
Why have a website?
- A website should not be thought of simply as a 'must have' accessory to your business, organisation or identity. It brings new opportunities and challenges, and you should take some time to consider what impact it may have.
- A website does not simply parallel a printed brochure, prospectus or CV. The multimedia nature of the web allows you to do things that aren't possible in print: elements can 'come alive' to the viewer, tasks (such as online shopping) can be undertaken, and downloads – pictures, printable pages, videos – made available.
- What is the goal of your website?
A website can…
publicise an organisation, product or set of products
act as a (shop) window on what you or your company does
showcase a service
make available resources and knowledge
allow comment from or adaptation by others
Who might want to visit my site?
- Try to define your target audience – you will find it easier to ensure that your website remains focused and relevant to the audience in terms of language, level, content etc.
- Research shows that you have eight seconds to persuade people to stay on your website once they reach it. Building a great site means keeping your users in mind: this way it will be easier to get good links, good rankings and all around good results.
- Put yourself at the end of your visitor's mouse – not yours – and ask yourself what they might want to find out. What are their immediate needs? [for example – Can I trust them? Are they any good at what they do? Will they get the job done? Are they my cup of tea?] Before the website begins to sell to its site visitors, it has to answer their questions and put their fears to rest.
- Ask potential visitors what they want
What do they want to see?
Why will they visit your site?
What information or resources do they need, and in what order?
What might put them off achieving this?
How might you keep them on your site?
What should I put on my website?
- However well a website is designed, the content will be a major factor by which it will be judged by visitors, after all they come to a site usually to 'find things out', not simply to view great design. The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for – so think carefully about which information you choose to emphasize, and which you choose to exclude.
Resources might include:
living brochure, prospectus or annual report
display board
newsletter
events diary
training course
video clip or sound file
product catalogue
artwork/ sample journalism
blog
- When writing content for the web – be aware that a wall of text can be a disaster – impenetrable, a click-off. Write for online, not for print.
- Remember the need to attract new users as well as keep your existing visitor base. Think of ways to refresh and update the content on your website as frequently as you can. Make your site as interactive as possible. Give people something to do: e.g. respond to a poll, fill in a quiz, sign-up for a mailing list.
- Statistics, numbers, and examples all need to be recent or credibility suffers. Do not promise a change if you cannot fulfil.
How do I go about planning a website?
- Plan your site carefully. Consider all the options and map them out. Create a list of website pages and a rough idea of how they might link together. You'll then be able to work out exactly what pages to include on the website and how to group these pages together.
- Bear in mind that some users will need more information than others, so you'll always need to provide them with a choice of continuing on the information flow or jumping off so that they can achieve the goal you've set for them.
For example: an information flow followed by a visitor to an author website might go on could look something like this:
1. Homepage
2. Bibliography
3. Interview with the author
4. Author biography
5. Writing tips
6. Buying books
- Conduct a 'useability' test
Show you plan to five people and ask them:
What's the point of this website?
If you were on the homepage, where you would click? And where after that?
Is it what you need?
Design…?
- Think about how you would like it to look. Look at other websites to give you an idea of what you do and do not like. Look at lots of sites: sister organisations, national sites, sites dealing with other issues. Make lists of content, features, and design elements you like and don’t like. Look at things like the location of the navigation bar, colour schemes, and the use of animations. Bookmark a list of favourites as models.
- Think about how you would like visitors to navigate (how you move from page to page) your site – be as logical in organising sections as you can; it can be helpful to look at navigation and signposting conventions on other sites.
- In determining a colour for your site, less is best: use 2-3 colours
