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DESIGNING
AND PLANNING YOUR SITE
Starting
NOW, always keep a backup copy of your entire web site in the
turn-in folder because crashes happen! Make sure you have at least one complete and accurate
offline copy of your plans, storyboards, web pages, etc. in case of
technical difficulties. Okay, let's
talk storyboards!
A.
THINK ABOUT IT: WHO
IS YOUR AUDIENCE (OR WHO ARE YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMERS)?
WHO DO YOU HOPE WILL VISIT AND ENJOY YOUR SITE?
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR SITE?
You
will need to figure this out before anything else. Once that is done,
think about the information and graphics that your audience would be
interested in. Narrow
or expand your topic so that it will fit on 5 - 7 web pages.
Ask yourself these questions.
It's a lot easier if you decide ahead of time how many levels or
branches you’ll need. Storyboarding will help you decide how to name
the individual page files too.
What do I want on my index (home) page?
What categories or subtopics of information do I want to have in
my site? (If you only have
5 pages, that would mean a home page + 4 subtopic pages.
You can think of your pages as yellows and the details on that
page as the reds.)
 Then
you can start to make your storyboard.
Think of this as a little like planning a writing piece.
WHAT
DO WE MEAN BY A STORY-BOARD?
A
web site storyboard looks like a flow chart or graphic organizer.
It is like a map of your site.
A well-done storyboard has three parts:
1.
A quick sketch of the site's structure
- A
detailed structural outline
- A
detailed sketch of each page
The
storyboard is your blueprint.
Just like a building needs a blueprint, so does a web site. Your
visitors might arrive at any page on your site. Your job is to see that
they can get into the main areas of your site to locate information with
a minimum of clicks. Visitors like to get to the information they wanted
within three clicks of arriving at a web site.
B.
MAKE A DRAFT STORYBOARD BY DRAWING A QUICK SKETCH ON SCRATCH
PAPER SHOWING THE STRUCTURE YOU WANT FOR YOUR SITE
This
fake site for an online spa products store has a total of seven pages.
You must have a minimum of 5 pages in your own web.
(You do not have to make an online store.)
- Keep
in mind that your visitors should always know where they are and how
to get back Home.
- Visitors
should be also able to provide feedback or contact you form so you
need a page about you with an email link or a guest book.
·
What do you think
is the easiest way to link pages so your visitors can easily get from
one topic to another?
- If
the visitor arrives at a sub-topic page (category page), how will
they get to the other categories or the Home page?
C.
LIST THE NAMES YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE YOUR PAGES; USE AN ORGANIZED
FORMAT. Every
page should have a useful title. Titles not only tell the visitor about
the page, the title is used by search engines, too. Each word is
important.
www.suzannesspa.com
www.suzannesspa.com/candles
www.suzannesspa.com/lotions
www.suzannesspa.com/accessories
www.suzannesspa.com/fragrances
www.suzannesspa.com/contacts
You
will also want to include .html names in your storyboard.
Often times people will mis-spell or mis-title a page by
accident. It is really hard
to fix a mistake like that after you publish your site, so do it right
at the beginning.
index.html
candles.html
lotions.html
accessories.html
fragrances.html
contacts.html
soaps.html
D.
MAKE A DETAILED SKETCH OF EACH PAGE
1.
Each page is sketched in detail (by hand) showing placement of
all text, graphics and hyperlinks.
The simpler your
site is, the easier it will be for visitors to find information and for
you to update later.
2.
While planning your storyboard, think through the steps visitors
must take to go from point A -- nearly always your home (index) page --
to point B. Does it take 3
clicks or less?
3.
You should explain each page’s purpose because your visitors
might not see any of the others. Be sure to link back to the home page.
4.
Make a note of your theme and color schemes on each page.
*See
my links about color choices.
You
need to have at least 5 pages total.
Each page must have at least 1 graphic and 3 paragraphs. (The
paragraphs can be scattered all over the page if you like.) You may also
add lists, pictures, graphs, tables, etc.
provided they enhance your content.
E.
DECISIONS ABOUT DESIGN
 Consider
your Content
- A
consistent design theme (backgrounds, colors, etc.) lets visitors
know when they are on your site and when they’ve moved to external links.
You will need to have at least 3 hyperlinks to related
sites about your topic. You
may choose which page to use for those.
- Are
you going to rely on lots of pictures to express your message?
Remember to plan for at least 1 graphic per page.
·
How many graphics
can you have and still keep a fast loading time?
Don’t overdo it.
·
Don’t forget
you will have to make your page-width suitable for all browsers.
·
Do you have long
text reports or paragraphs? You will have at least 3 paragraphs per
page.
·
Will the words
need to be modified for easy reading online?
·
Your information
is valuable--how can you make it easy for visitors to get it?
F.
BEGIN TO MAKE THE REAL STORYBOARD WITH INSPIRATION
You
could make one on paper in real life – but it’s much easier with Inspiration.
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