It may sound obvious, but before building a website, it's important to answer some basic questions which will help you to organise the structure and content of your site.
Consider the following:- -What is your site's main purpose? Is it to sell a product or service? Provide information to members? Maybe encourage volunteers? Or even recruit people? - Is there a secondary purpose for your site? For example, a corporate site like a bank may sell products but also provide information for financial analysts, investors and brokers -What sort of content is important for each purpose? -Who is the target audience the site is trying to attract? What are their interests? What do you know about them, eg their age, how much they earn, where they live? Once you've got answers to these questions, you can start organising your site.
1.
The best starting point is to put together a website map which shows the site's structure and content.
It's also important to choose your keywords before you start writing so that search engines can find you easily.
2.
The homepage is the most important page on the site: creating the right impression is essential.
Make sure your menu structure is clear as this will help visitors navigate around your site quickly and easily.
3.
Visitors scan rather than read and skip from place to place.
Remember that reading on a screen is slower than reading the same text in its printed format.
Give visitors minimal directions so that they can find the information they need quickly and easily.
4.
Write clean, clear, concise copy and keep the audience in mind.
Write with a purpose, whether it's information, education or entertainment.
5.
Include bulleted and numbered lists and highlight text to make it easy to scan.
6.
Deliver copy in bite size chunks and remember less is more: edit any unnecessary or irrelevant copy Finally, check your grammar, punctuation and spelling: it's just as important to get them right online as it is with printed media.
Minimise the use of adjectives and adverbs and always spell-check content.
Spelling mistakes on websites happen too frequently and errors make visitors question the reliability and accuracy of information on the whole website.
Consider the following:- -What is your site's main purpose? Is it to sell a product or service? Provide information to members? Maybe encourage volunteers? Or even recruit people? - Is there a secondary purpose for your site? For example, a corporate site like a bank may sell products but also provide information for financial analysts, investors and brokers -What sort of content is important for each purpose? -Who is the target audience the site is trying to attract? What are their interests? What do you know about them, eg their age, how much they earn, where they live? Once you've got answers to these questions, you can start organising your site.
1.
The best starting point is to put together a website map which shows the site's structure and content.
It's also important to choose your keywords before you start writing so that search engines can find you easily.
2.
The homepage is the most important page on the site: creating the right impression is essential.
Make sure your menu structure is clear as this will help visitors navigate around your site quickly and easily.
3.
Visitors scan rather than read and skip from place to place.
Remember that reading on a screen is slower than reading the same text in its printed format.
Give visitors minimal directions so that they can find the information they need quickly and easily.
4.
Write clean, clear, concise copy and keep the audience in mind.
Write with a purpose, whether it's information, education or entertainment.
5.
Include bulleted and numbered lists and highlight text to make it easy to scan.
6.
Deliver copy in bite size chunks and remember less is more: edit any unnecessary or irrelevant copy Finally, check your grammar, punctuation and spelling: it's just as important to get them right online as it is with printed media.
Minimise the use of adjectives and adverbs and always spell-check content.
Spelling mistakes on websites happen too frequently and errors make visitors question the reliability and accuracy of information on the whole website.
SHARE
