Need Ideas?
Planning your web site is the first and most important step and doesn't involve any technical equipment... Just a piece of paper and a pen! Firstly think about your audience. What age group are they? How will they have found your site? What product or information are you wanting to show? What should your site's priorities?
Start at the top, similar to a piece of headed stationary. Think about the identity of your company, background colour, logo, company colours, font styles, etc. Often a simple solution can be best as in the likes of Ebay, Amazon, BBC, Marks & Spencer, etc. Simple, clean, basic styling.
Basic might be acceptable for those sites just listing news or lots of stock items, but what if you wanted to add a little extra something to help make the page 'come alive'? This is where a 'Flash' header can be useful, either with your logo or along side... (See the 'Flash Banner' page).
Navigation is one of the most important features of any web site. If the navigation is bad, confusing, hard to find or just doesn't work, then your potential customer will get fed up and move on to a different site.
Personally, I like to see at least two forms of navigation on the home page, one near the top, close to the logo and the other at the bottom of the page, known as the 'Footer'. This is a concept used my many well known sites. The top navigation can be used with graphics or symbols to help stand out from the rest of the page and the bottom can be a simple text based version.
Your main question is which way round do you prefer? If you don't have many headings, then a horizontal navigation bar is good as it leaves plenty of room for the content. A vertical 'Side Bar' menu is great for lots of headings, but will eat a little into the rest of the page. Ebay uses a 'Side Bar' style navigation while Amazon use a bit of both.
Headings are next, deciding how to separate your content into 'Easy To Find' sections. This might be quite basic if planning the layout of a restaurant, hairdressers, etc. But, it can start to get complicated if planning to display large numbers of stock items, for example, a shoe shop... Do you list your items by style (sandal, shoe, boot) or by size (9, 10, 11), or by brand?
Sometimes it doesn't matter how you lay things out as long as they're logical, other times, you might have to lay the same things out in a couple of different ways to be logical to different people. Once a solution is formed, get others to test it.
Then it's onto content. It's probably at this point you should start thinking about what you want to say or show, followed by how the customer can get in touch with you. Can they purchase online? Do you prefer them to call you? What happens when you are closed?
Once you've thought the basics through, get in touch with us by phone or e-mail. We'll be happy to arrange an appointment.
