The initial phase in website design is arguably the most critical in determining the website's success. This process can be likened to constructing a house, where meticulous planning and a robust foundation are essential. Similarly, a website is your digital dream home, and it's up to you to build it to your liking. Many websites fail on the World Wide Web due to a lack of a solid foundation for expansion. This article will guide you on how to establish a firm foundation for your website and how to plan and organize it effectively.
Many individuals, when they begin to design a website, immediately start using their advanced WYSIWYG editor and begin typing away. They often neglect to consider how their site will be organized, where their files will be stored, or even where they will host their site. These websites often fail as their webmasters become frustrated with the site's dead ends and mental blocks. However, these issues can be avoided with proper planning. Almost every professional website has invested a significant amount of time in planning.
The best place to start planning a website is by defining its purpose. A website without a clear purpose is likely to stagnate and fail. Write down the purpose of your site on an 8 X 11 piece of paper. Having the purpose written down will make it seem more tangible and will help keep you focused amidst the distractions of the Internet.
Once you have defined your site's purpose, you need to determine how your site will fulfill this purpose. These will be your site's objectives. On the same sheet of paper where you wrote your site's purpose, draw a line across the paper. Underneath that line, write down three one-sentence objectives for your site. Keep this sheet of paper next to your computer at all times. Every time you work on your site, ask yourself, "Is this helping my site accomplish its objectives and fulfill its purpose?" If the answer is no, then you should consider finding something that will.
Before proceeding, it's crucial to determine how your files and folders will be stored. You have several options: you can put everything in one folder, have an images folder and put all the HTML files in one folder, or have each major section of your site in its own subfolder, with each subfolder having its own images folder.
For small sites, putting everything in one folder works well. However, for larger sites with 500+ pages, updating the site can become a daunting task. Having one images folder and putting all the HTML in one folder is slightly better, but updating the site can still be time-consuming.
In my opinion, the best approach is to put each major section of the site within its own folder. This way, when you need to update something, you will know exactly where it is, saving you time and effort.
Looking back, you should be glad that you didn't just dive into coding. A lot of work goes into a site before even one line of code can be written. There are many more steps ahead before we start coding our site. The next step involves deciding on the colors and navigation of your site.
