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Web Designers-- Software Consultants-- Freelance Designers

Find the Right Web Designer and/or Software Consultants to Build Your Small Businesses Online

Planning a Web Site -- Issues to Discuss with Web Designers and Software Consultants

Planning and Managing the Project--As with any publishing and marketing venture, it is necessary to pull together ideas and expertise of each member of the creation process. A person in the role of "producer" often oversees this throughout the creation process. With the newness of the Web, special care must be taken to ensure that all in the project (again, especially the client) are clear on what is involved and what is expected of each person before actual production commences.

Defining the Website Goals--What purpose will the website serve? This may be the point where a client and producer determine that Internet publishing may not be the best option, or at least, a variation of the typical production process may come into play. With the Internet, a balance of sorts must be achieved between flash and form, as there are still limitations of the technology. This will be taken into consideration at this point. Also, a form called a "client brief" (see also The Client Brief with this page) will be viewed and completed by the client and signed off on by each person who will have input. This ensures that each member of the creative process is "on the same [Web] page" in terms of expectations.

"Information Architecture"--Only now can the planning of the actual website content begin. The marriage between the site goals and actual implementation (how it's going to work onscreen) begins here. The ordering of the site contents is of paramount importance--if a site is not pleasing to the eye and easily navigable, the site will have gained and lost a viewer at the same time. Hence, the "blueprints" of the site are made to make a site pretty and practical to attract--and keep--repeat visitors. It can be called a "branching diagram", "flow chart", or even a "storyboard"--it all comes down to a pictorial layout of what pages the site will have and what information will be on them. With this page is a blank branching diagram to view. As the old adage says, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

Interface Design--At this time, after all the pictures are drawn, the project team knows what information is to be on each page and can plan and implement in more detail. This is called "page architecture." The decisions are made as to what standard elements will be on each page, how they will relate to each other on the screen, and how they will interact with the rest of the site. This step will determine how the pages will work.

Content Creation--Now that there is an actual structural plan and the "look and feel" of the site-to-be decided upon, content creation--the "fleshing out" of the site--may begin. This can include copywriting and editing, graphic design, animation, multimedia--any aspect that may enhance the site's effectiveness without encumbering it. Bells and whistles for the sake of bells and whistles is not on the agenda. It is essential that the client and the creation team remain in agreement about the intent of the site.

Programming & Scripting--Interactivity is "number one" with the Internet. A site that is troublesome to use will be quickly abandoned, even with the understanding that the medium is still growing and maturing. Such goodies as forms, databases, Java scripts, and more can be built in and this phase will ensure that the site will be an effective and enjoyable tool to use.

Production Process--Here is where all the various elements decided upon thus far are linked together into a usable interface, a.k.a. the website itself. The copy, scripts, databases, graphics--all must be prepared in such a way that they will work in conjunction with each other within the boundaries of the current technology.

Publishing/Shipping--Once the website is built, it must be tested. Now the site is published (or "shipped") to a server (machine) that houses the files that make up the site. Often, it is best to place the site on a "staging server" which is only known to those involved. After the site is checked out and deemed ready to go, it is published "live" for the world to see!

Website Publicizing & Promotion--Time was, "if you built it, they would come." While many of the same rules of marketing and promotion apply to Internet publishing as well, more so than in any other medium is it vital to publicize the new site. It is built, but people may not come without a carefully-conceived and proactively-maintained battle plan to tell the world about it.