Creating Effective Web Pages

Using Effective Design

Design is the planning process for the web site as a whole. There are 3 steps for the design phase of your web site; Define the Purpose, Identify the Audience, Plan the Content. Below are some questions to answer about the web site before starting the creation process.

Define the Purpose: This is the time to figure out the topic, purpose and goals for the site as a whole.

"What is the topic of my web site?"

"The purpose of this site is to ___."

"Why am I creating a web site?"

Identify the audience: Think about the people who will be viewing your web site. Try to picture the people at your web site and

"Who will benefit most from this information?
age ___
sex ___
income ___
education ___
career ___
lifestyle ___"

"What are they expecting to gain from the information in your web site?"

(ex. A web site for a men's shoe store will look different than a women's shoe store.)

Plan the content: What is the required content needed to express the purpose and goals to the target audience. Below is a list of types of content to think about:

Pictures?

Video?

Sound?

GIF animations?

Banners?

Buttons?

How many different topics are there for the web site?

Will each topic have its own page or pages?

Tip: Type all content information onto a word document so that you get an idea how much space the content will take up on the pages. You can also copy the information from your document and paste it to a program like Frontpage XP, so it is only typed once.

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Last updated 3/4/04