Planning
web site design

It's better to have a home page load quickly and get to the point.

What is the purpose of the web site? Selling products and/or services? Providing information? Even a catalog web site may be informational, used only to display products. Have you decided on the DOMAIN NAME? Have you decided where it will be hosted? Do you have the cost budgeted?

SWD will work with you on all these questions and more in this critical analysis phase of designing a web site for your business.
If you already have a logo, brochures and other printed media with your business color scheme, it's a good idea to be consistent and use the colors your customers and clients already associate with your business. This simpliflies the process.

BASICS of WEB SITE PLANNING
	F	Content is KING:			F	Use what works: (Your homework)
	w	TEXT, TEXT, TEXT, !!!			w	Find 5 web sites that serve as a model for design and/or content.
	w	Visitors want and need information.			w	It's much better not innovatel
	w	Search engines can only read words (text).				- web site designs and models that are already successful
	w	Great graphics do NOT sell!			w	NO FRAMES!
		- Showing your products and services does				- Difficult to bookmark & search engines can't follow the links
	F	Keep It Clean:			F	Flash? NO!      Animation - not much!  Why?
	w	Use clearly readable fonts.			w	The search engines cannot "read" or find a Flash page.
	w	Keep the design uncluttered and minimal.			w	They take too long for a 56k modem, PDA or Palm Pilot device.
	w	Too many graphics slow down the download time			w	They lack information and sell nothing. No SALABILITY
	F	Navigation:			F	Customer / Client Page:
	w	Keep it simple and clean.			w	This is the second most important page
	w	Have multiple methods of navigating the web site			w	Display your customer list with pride.
	w	Make it easy to find important information from the home page.			w	Include customer logos and quotes.
What is the purpose of the web site? Selling products and/or services? Providing information? Even a catalog web site may be informational, used only to display products. Have you decided on the DOMAIN NAME? Have you decided where it will be hosted? Do you have the cost budgeted? SWD will work with you on all these questions and more in this critical analysis phase of designing a web site for your business. Already have a logo, brochures and other printed media with your business color scheme? It's a good idea to be consistent and use the colors your customers and clients already associate with your business. This simpliflies the process and is very cost effective. In fact if it's a small business (3-5 pages) web site, we can put your brochure on-line at a very low rate.
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