First off is to make a plan for your website. You wouldn't ever dream of entering into a bloody battle with only a half-reloaded gun and 'anything that happens there'll be a surprise!' for a plan, would you? Well, the same goes for making a website. You very well can't just wake up one day and say to yourself "I have a great idea; I'm going to make a website so that everybody can have access to my business/personal life blogs/works/products/ (whatever you want to put into your website)!" then launch yourself off your bed, find a computer with suitable internet connection and suddenly miraculously come up with a website without any planning and such. I'm not saying that it isn't impossible; what I'm saying that if you actually attempt to do such a thing as that you will probably end up with a website that looks rushed and unplanned--wait, that's what it really is, actually.
To prevent such a thing from morphing into your web portal, start things off slow by planning everything about your website. When I say everything, I mean everything. If you work together with a team with you as boss and you have never experienced their work before, micro-managing is highly recommended. Everything has to be planned, from the number of sites to your domain name to what text goes where to the layout, and whether you will use FrontPage or Sitegrinder or another program for it, just, everything. Here's a short list on what you can plan on. Take note that this is only a short list and adding more things to it is heavily suggested.
- What will my site be called?
- Why is my site called that way?
- Does it have any relevance to the site's nature/products/business/theme?
- What will the catchphrase be?
- Will the people immediately know what my site is for once they read the title and/or its catchphrase?
- What will my site's URL be?
- Will it have its own dot com startup? Or will it only have a sub-domain?
- Where will you get a domain name?
- Do you intend on paying for your domain name? If so, how much money can you or will you allot to it?
- What will be the design of my site?
- What will the site's layout look like? Is it supposed to look girly, funny, scary, kid-themed, etc.?
- Is the site's layout theme appropriate for what the site deals in/is about?
- Who will do the design of the website? Will you hire somebody to do it for you, get a member of your group to do it for you, or make it yourself with a bit of Sitegrinder help?
- How big will my site be?
- How many pages will my site be?
- What will the pages of my site contain?
- How heavy will each of my pages be, on average?
- Aside from graphics and text will there be any other content in my website? Will there be flash or JavaScript?
- When will the deadline be?
- Is that deadline achievable?
That is only an example of the website checklist that you can make to use on your site. With a bit of help, you are on your first step to creating the perfect website.
