The process of planning a website is not as difficult as it may seem. There are many options available for creating a web presence for your business or project. You may choose to go the do-it-yourself route by purchasing a website template, using online web creation software, finding a family member or friend to help build a basic site or you can enlist a professional website designer to create a custom site for you. Whichever route you choose a great deal of planning must go in to the site in order for it to be successful.

What is a successful website? Only you can determine that for your business. Proper planning includes identifying the goals of your site and how you will measure their success. It’s like any other form of project management whether you’re spending thousands on a site with all the bells and whistles, or picking up a Web Design for Dummies book intent on going it alone. Doing it well requires planning in not only how you want the site to look, but how you want end users to interact with it.

There are a couple of basic things you’ll definitely need

• A domain name. For a yearly fee you will purchase the name of your URL (i.e. mywebsite.com). If the name you want is not available, try other extensions (called top-level domains, .com, .org, .net, biz, etc.). A .com domain is still the most popular, but there are plenty of successful sites without a .com – it’s all about building a strong brand with the name you choose. If you still can’t get the name you want, think of different permutations or similar phrases that can be used for a domain name. Can your tagline be used if your company name is not available? Remember, be careful with your name choices, run it by colleagues or friends before making your final decision to avoid domain name disaster.
• A Web host: A website must be stored on a special computer called a web server in order to be viewed online. You can build or purchase your own web server, but for most people this is not a reasonable choice and it is far easier to purchase space from a web hosting provider. The operating system of the web server (usually Windows or a form of Unix) will often determine what types of technologies you can use on your website. Many web developers prefer one operating system over another, or work exclusively in one and not another. Also, if you are using third party software on your website, you will need to know its compatibility with your web host.

Once the basics are taken care of the real fun begins. A website is often many peoples’ first introduction to your organization. You want it to represent you well. From the colors, to the number of pages, to the choice and length of text content, every aspect of your website should be crafted with your goals in mind.

One way I encourage my clients to really think about their website goals is by requesting that they complete a Needs Analysis questionnaire. Once we are very clear on what they want their web presence to do for their organization, as a web designer and developer, I am better able to construct a site that meets those needs.

Another great tool for website planning is this eBook “Connect 2 the Net: Business Basics for Building (or Planning) Your Web Site” which steps through the entire process of planning a new or redesigned website.

I’d love to hear your comments below!