Design Steps
Establishing the aims of your website
Before you begin your project, you should try to establish the purpose of your website. What do you want to achieve by having a website on the Internet? Establish goals for the site; the more specific, the better. Once you have a clear picture of the site's purpose, you can move on to the next step.
Understanding your target audience
Who are you trying reach with your website? Try to narrow this down as much as possible, so that you know what tone the site should have, to appeal to the most specific intended audience.
Similar sites & competition
In order to collect ideas for your site it's a good idea to take a look at other sites in your target market. Check out the competition, especially if you want your site to be the best of its kind. What does the competition have to offer? What are they doing wrong? How can your site do it better? In what ways will your site have the competitive edge?
Presenting content
It's important to consider the flow of data within your website. If your site has a lot of content, this will need to be divided up into bite-sized chunks, sections and categories (or "main links" within your site). We would advise using a flow chart or index cards to organise your ideas. Example of a flow chart.
Look & feel
This is your website's first and last impression. It's time to determine your site's colour-scheme and other graphic representations. Once again, we'll work very closely with you to find a scheme that works well for your site. We'll also provide a mock-up of your site for evaluation, with a view to developing ideas and building the final website.
Site launch
By this time, you'll be ready to unleash your site on the rest of the World Wide Web. We'll make sure that everything has been tested and evaluated and that you're happy with the final design.