The Building process

Now that you know some of the basics behind web page / web site design, it is to time to start thinking about making your website. I say "think", as planning is without doubt the absolute most crucial stage of the process.

1. Define the purpose of your web site

Before you begin to build your website you need to be objective about what the website's goals are. Knowing your goals will define your processes when putting the web site together and ultimately affect it's success or otherwise.

This may seem like common sense but without a strict framework, many sites end up disjointed or incoherent and are subsequently almost impossible to maintain.

So if, for example, you wish to create an e-commerce web site, selling products, then as a web site designer, you must consider features such as the following -

Will you need a shopping cart ?

Have you got the means to accept credit card payments ?

How many items will you sell aand will they need to be grouped together in categories ?

Planning in ideas such as these will allow you to create your site quickly and with less problems. You can also forsee any areas where you are lacking and get appropriate help / guidance in advance.

2. Website Flowchart

No rocket science here - just draw a flowchart, using boxes for the pages and lines for the links between them. If you place your homepage at the top of the paper and work down you will end up with a pyramid shape, assuming you are going with a traditional design.

3. Choose the layout that you will be using on all your pages

Now that you have your flowchart showing all your pages and how they interconnect, you are ready to think about the layout of your web pages. If you are creating an art related website or need to show off some creative talents then something strange or original may be in keeping with your theme.

Otherwise, keep to the traditional style with your navigation controls along the top or down the left or right sides. Visitors will appreciate a site that "conforms" to what they know and which is therefore easier to get around.

Lastly, choose your colour scheme wisely in order to fit in with the theme of your site. Obviously a site selling steriods, that uses a liberal amount of pink, may struggle !

4. Build your website

Now you can start building your website. From the flowchart, create one page at a time, starting with the home page and working down level by level.

The advantage of having a flowchart is that you can set up all your links as you go, without having to continually revisit previous pages as more content is added.