By now you probably have some idea about how you want your website to look. If not, check out the websites out there that are receiving awards and look close at their design. How and where do they place their logos? How are they advertising their products? What type of navigation is being used?
As you look at each of the award winning sites (for a list of various winners visit The Webby Awards, American Design Awards, and the American Association of Webmasters), you’ll begin to get ideas about what you’d like to do for your website. Some things you’ll see will be a huge overkill for your site. Others such as white space, picture sizes, etc. will be important examples for what you should consider when laying out your website. While you’ll be tempted to consider fancy rollover features, and perhaps a FLASH entry screen, these will be time consuming efforts that will not add value to your site and will likely make it a slow loader for many visitors who don’t have broadband (yep there are still thousands out there with dial-up).
There’s always a tendency to want to jump right in and start writing code. Before you do, spend a few moments with a pencil and paper and sketch out some rough ideas for general layout of your website’s home page. If your website requires navigation (most won’t for a single product or service), then determine what the navigation should look like and how it should function. Sketch out a flowchart (basically an outline) of how your multiple pages will be tied together.
Once you have the basic layout designed, review your outline with others to see if the flow makes sense and firm up the final design with any feedback you receive. With design in hand, you’re ready to proceed with other website considerations.