How to analyze a website is the first,
and most important step, in the website design process. It
requires answering several questions about this website you're
going to create. Now's the time to start a journal. Write down
the following questions and give some serious thought to your
answers.
Why are you creating this website?
Your answer is important. It will determine the content,
design and development of your pages. Do you have some interesting
information you'd like to share? Do you have a product or
service to sell? Do you want to display your artistic/creative
talent? Do you have some terrific website links you want
to let the world know about? Really think about this and
then write down your thoughts.
Another way to think about this question is what
is the goal of this website? Is it to entertain, instruct,
inform, persuade, share, sell or display? The answer will
provide you with direction and focus as you design your site
and help you to develop your theme.
Who is my target audience?
What type of visitors do I want my site to attract? What
are the demographics of your audience. What will be their
age, sex and education? Will they search out my site because
we share a special interest, do the same kind of things or
are they looking for specific information? Is my target audience
the business community, stay-at-home moms, artists, or sports
enthusiasts? Or is it a combination of several groups?
Be as specific as you can about this. Try to pinpoint
a certain type of individual then learn as much about them
as you can so you can tailor your website to suit them. The
key to website success lies in your ability to express your
message in such a way as to create interest for your visitors.
You can't do this unless you know who they are.
How can I communicate effectively?
Once you know who the audience for your website will
be, what is the best way to communicate with them? Are they
looking for a fancy site with lots of interactivity? Do they
want all the information on the first page? Would they prefer
the content be categorized so that they can access only the
section they want? Do I need to include an order form? Would
a message board be a good way to communicate?
The way your visitors perceive your message will determine
how they react to it. If you are seeking to sell something
to your visitors make that clear from the start. People
don't like to be fooled into taking action. Be clear and
forthright in your method of communication and your website
will stand with the best of them.
What information do I need?
If you are designing a site for a client, you will
need to know the answers to the preceding questions as well
as what their vision is for their site. Do they have a logo
they want you to use, do they have specific colors in mind,
do they want to include phone and fax numbers on their pages?
If this is your own business site, these are questions you
should answer also.
When creating a personal website, such as one providing
links to other sites, it is considered good netiquette to
contact the site owners and let them know you are linking
to their pages. An advantage to this is that often they will
provide a reciprocal link to your site!
If you are using someone else's graphics and/or pictures, you
should request their permission and plan on providing a credit
link somewhere on the page where they are displayed. Are
you going to have a message forum on your site? Are you going
to have an e-mail list for informing visitors of updates
or new content? These are all things you need to consider...and
make note of in your journal.
What content (data, graphics, photos, etc.) will be included?
This is the big job...gathering all the content that
you want to include on your website. Are you going to use
photos? What kind of graphics do you want? And what information
or data are you putting online! Are you going to provide
tutorials? Right now, just make a list of the items you think
you will want to have on your website...you don't need to
gather it all together yet.
Make notes about what you need to do such as scan
photos or documents, locate or create graphics, write tutorials,
sort and organize data. This is a good time to create folders
or binders for your website project so that you can keep
the content organized. You might need one folder for Graphics,
one for Photos, one for Data, one for Tutorials and one for
Miscellaneous information. Your content will determine the
folder titles you need. Don't let all this overwhelm you...it
will all fall into place.
Planning your website
Time spent on this most important phase of website
design will pay dividends in the long run. The planning that
you do now will make things much easier once your website
is online. There are a multitude of details that go into
the design of a professional site and solid planning in the
early stages of design will help eliminate problems down
the road. Remember to spend as much time as necessary planning
your website.
Planning and organizing are the most crucial steps
in designing a website. Once you have a clear picture of
what you are trying to say it will be easier to devise a
plan to present this information to your visitors. Planning
your website is the key to creating a website that is robust,
effective and easy to maintain.
| Gene DeFazzio is the webmaster and author
of the Rocketface® Workshop. (http://www.rocketface.com)
A website dedicated to the new and aspiring webmaster
and home of the award winning webmasters tutorial, "How
to Design a Website". |
