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Copyright 1999 Deborah Anderson
Anderson Creations * All Rights Reserved
Have you ever visited a web site and wondered what the
focus of the web site started out to be? Some web sites,
though very entertaining strike me as being a collage
of other web sites, other services, other products.
Have I been entertained by these web sites? Yes
Have I sometimes gathered something resourceful? Yes
Have I bookmarked these web sites for future return? No
Why? Because I can't really figure out what they are
saying or what would be the intention of the web site.
Here is list of tips to help you organize the design
of your web site...
1. Determine the focus for your web site
Determine your "niche." (Read Bob LeDuc's article
about determining your niche by sending blank email
to mailto:niche@sendfree.com)
Can you promote other interests that do not fit it
or complement this niche? Yes, as long as your
organize your site in a manner that does not confuse
your visitors.
2. Write down your focus and a description of your focus
Once you have determined what your niche market is,
write down a description of your web site focus.
This description should either be a short paragraph
or a short outline of your plan. Use this description
throughout your planning of your web site.
3. Flow Chart
Do you remember doing flow charts in school? Start
with the written description of your focus as the
start of your flow chart and branch out from there,
keeping your focus in mind. This will help as you
develop the concept for each of your web pages within
your site.
4. Develop your layout
With your flow chart in mind, develop your home page
to reflect the center of this flow chart. Do not try
to put all of your wares on your home page. Leave
something for the visitor to search for on your web
site. Let the visitor "smell the sizzle" of the steak
that you are preparing, but let them do the eating bite
by bite on each of your pages.
5. Determine if you will have a navigational bar AND
a page index on each page.
Navigational bars are very handy to help your visitor
to find the main features of your web site. Do not put
every web page that you have at your web site in the
navigational bar unless you have less than 8 pages.
It is helpful to have a navigational bar for the
"features" of your web site and include a "page index"
listing of web pages horizontally at the end of the
page. Include these on all of your web pages along to
help your visitors to find all of your web pages
(that you want found).
Don't be afraid to be creative and to design a sidebar
page index instead of the horizontal index. Again,
consistency is the key.
6. Avoid confusion in navigational tools
Some sites can get away with multiple navigational
bars For example, http://www.egroups.com has a naviga-
tional bar for members and a separate navigational
bar for list managers in addition to 3 separate page
indices per web page in the manage list area. This
works for egroups since they require this separate
approach and they have a simple page design.
It is recommended that you keep things simple for
your visitor by having only one navigational bar and
one page index per web page.
7. Develop a Site Index
Develop a Site Index for your web site if you have
more than 10 pages (anticipating that you will probably
"grow" into more pages). In the Site Index you can
include the web pages featured in your navigational bar,
the page index any other pages that you want accessed.
8. Categorize your links
Do you have several links on your home page and
throughout your web site? Categorize these links by
subject and either put "blocks" (using table method)
of 5-10 links for each category or separate the links
into different web pages and list the categories on
your home page or other web pages or your navigational
bar or site index. This is especially useful when you
use reciprocal linking as one of your marketing tech-
niques and add to your "links" page on a regular basis.
9. Tip - Consider developing a database of web pages
Something that I have found extremely helpful was to
create a database of web pages. This helps me keep
track of future design changes and notes per page and
per account. For instance, I can find all of the pages
in the banner file directory and do a "global replace"
to input information regarding an update that I would
like to do to all of those pages. This only takes a
moment. If you are a database type designer, this is a
great option!
10. Maintain Consistency in your layout
Use the same navigational bar and page index on each
page that you design. I find it helpful to use a page
as a template and change the content for each page.
This will help your visitor navigate easily throughout
your site.
Copyright 1999 Deborah Anderson, Anderson Creations
This article is from the "Quick Tips" Series of
articles available from Anderson Creations. If you
would like a Free copy of the list of articles
available in this series, please send a blank email
to mailto:danderso@virtualis.com?subject=QuickTips
This article may be reprinted as long as it contains
the following bio:
Deborah Anderson is the editor of Webmaster Tips Weekly
published by Anderson Creations. Visit her site
at http://www.andersoncreations.com/subscribe.shtml
and receive free content for your web site or ezine.
To subscribe to Webmaster Tips Weekly send a blank
email to mailto:subscribe_web_tips@sendfree.com
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