GS / Research

<< Getting started / Introduction GS / Software >>

For some people, this will be their first website. If this is the case, it might be advisable to do some research first. For instance, if you would like to build a companycommunityor hobby site, you will most certainly find some nice examples somewhere on the internet. By looking at your prospective competitor’s websites, you can learn a lot of things you should or shouldn’t do. Important things to look at are the way information is structured, the way menus and other navigational items are structured, the general visual impression, user friendliness and the way advertisements are placed. In this phase you can also test some domain names (by typing them in the address bar of yourbrowser). Maybe the domain name you would like to use is already taken.

An example of a website structure in Microsoft Word.

Furthermore, you can have a look at the information you would like to put online. You can try to structure it using a simple tool like Microsoft Word (or something similar). You could make headers to indicate the main structure and sub structures (Front page, Contact, About, etcetera). It is important to have at least a general idea of the things you would like to sayhow you would like to say them and how you would like your visitors to remember them. You can use this knowledge during construction and maintenance as a guideline (or a blueprint if you will).

<< Getting started / Introduction GS / Software >>