When planning your Web site, you will need to work out a number of details before you actually implement the Web design aspect. For one thing, you will need to identify who your target segment will be and the communication platform required to reach them.

The next stage for you would be to identify the objectives for your Web design. This will enable you to decide on the look, feel and content of your Web site. You can then undertake more detailed planning to ensure that you have an outstanding Web site.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

1. A Friendly Web Site

Your primary objective, once traffic arrives at your Web site, must be to retain it. In other words, your Web design must incorporate all the elements necessary to make your site friendly for visitors in terms of ease and speed. This requires an excellent navigational system, enabling your visitors to find their way around your site with no delays or problems.

You will find that most Web sites place their navigation bars either at the top or on the left. This is fairly standard practice and it may be wiser to maintain it on your Web site as well. You can also consider including your navigation bar again at the bottom of the page so that your visitors do not have to scroll up to the top again.
2. Compatible with Search Engines

If you make your Web site search engine friendly, you will immediately increase your reach. Most search engines try to ensure that they list Web sites that have interesting and useful content. If you want to appear on a search engine listing you must use phrases and key words on your Web site pages that clearly identify your products and services.

For instance, if you are a caterer you should use keywords like caterer, party caterer, wedding caterer, office caterer, wedding receptions, birthday parties, outdoor caterer, online caterer, private caterer, gourmet cuisine, New York caterer, picnic catering and so on, as often as you can to achieve a high ranking on different search engines. If you want to know the kind of words your clients may be searching for, just check out:

www.wordtracker.com

After you identify your keywords, keep using them in various places such as in your Web sites’ domain name; in the page title within the bar at the top of the browser window; in the heading of the home page; in the first paragraph of the home page; in Meta tags like page title, keywords, description; and in the titles of the graphics.

3. Information or E-commerce?

You need to decide on the kind of Web site you plan to have. Are you going to have an informative site or an online store? You may even decide on a combination of the two. An informative Web site is a bit like an online brochure that describes your business, services and products and maybe an order form that can be printed out.

The other option is an online store which functions as a virtual sales person who keeps promoting your product and then finally seals the deal online by making a sale. Your Web design will obviously have to take this aspect into account since not only would the design be based on this differentiation between these two kinds of sites but the all-important navigation would hinge on this too.

4. Your Plan

You first need to list all the main areas of information for your Web site, page wise, before you can think of what to write on each page. There are some pages that are common to most Web sites:

• The first page – Home Page

• About Us

• Products/Services

• Pricing

• Contact Us

• Reviews/Testimonials

• FAQ’s

• Articles/Resources

• Events

• Privacy Policy

• Links

• Site Map

• Media Center

• Online Store (On Ecommerce sites)

5. Your Flow Chart

Your plan actually gives birth to your flow chart. This is when your Web design must take into account what each must link to. In other words, your Products/Services page can lead to other pages, or sub-pages, which would further breakdown into product categories. For instance, if you are an Advertising and Media Agency:

Products/Services

— Advertising – Press/Radio/TV/Outdoor
— Media Services – Media Planning/Strategy/Buying
— Public Relations – Media Events/Press Conferences/Press Releases/Press Kits
— Production – Print/Radio/TV & Video
— Print production- Brochures/Leaflets/Flyers/Calendars/Annual Reports
— Radio production – Jingles/Spots/Programs
— TV& Video Production – Commercials/Corporate Videos/Documentaries

After you finalize all the details that your Web design must incorporate, you can start writing the copy for the pages on your Web site. The amount of text, or content, that you finally use on your Web site will influence the design and the number of tabs used. This in turn will influence the navigation system on your site.

Try to keep the number of main pages to a minimum, and give access to sub-pages preferably within two clicks. Most people get impatient and lose interest if they have to go through more than two clicks to reach the information they are looking for. If you keep the navigation simple, you retain your visitors.

6. Cross Selling on your Site

You can increase your reach by cross selling on your Web site. For example, if a visitor is looking for a particular product, you can provide information on related products that may be of interest to that person. You are then basically recommending another product and giving additional information to your visitor which works as a subtle sales pitch. This can often generate additional sales for you.

Amazon.com is a case in point. If you check out any book on the site, you will also find out what else was bought by the buyer of that book.

7. Check and Recheck

Be very particular about Spell Check and Grammar Check on your Web site. Correct all grammatical and spelling mistakes. Check that all graphics are displayed well and all links are functioning properly. You are now all set to have an outstanding Web design.