Building a new website can be both exciting and daunting. The opportunity to communicate to such a large audience is exciting whilst the work involved in getting a site ready for launch can indeed be daunting. However, with a structured and logical approach, it can be made quite painless - and in fact quite enjoyable!

Website Purpose

Before even thinking about design and structure, the first decision to be made is with regard the purpose of the site. Write something akin to a mission statement, for instance: "our site will enable people to buy great quality sporting goods at a superb price". It is critical that you write down on paper just what you want your site to achieve and communicate. This informs and lends purpose and structure to the rest of your site and should be kept in mind throughout the design process.

Target Audience

You will also need to clearly hold in mind your target audience - who you are writing the site for - this will inform both design, tone of voice and, most importantly of all, site content.

Page Titles

Next, you should define the number of pages you will need and the key theme or title of each page. Jot these down on a piece of paper.

Taxonomy

You are now ready to define the structure, or taxonomy of your site. Group the page titles you listed above into a logical structure that - critically - will make sense to the customer and not just to you. Give this a lot of thought as it can make or break your site. How easy or hard it is for the customer to find what they want can be the difference between a successful and a disappointing website.

Remember to consider how many levels of navigation you are prepared to have, and bear in mind that for each extra click down the site traffic will often fall off by around 50%. This means you should aim for a flat but logical structure, with no more than three clicks from the homepage to reach deepest content if at all possible.

Page template

The next step will be to define your page template. This will ensure that the hierarchy established by the taxonomy is followed. The best place to put navigation is down the left hand side so that it is easiest to access and find. Since most sites put navigation down this side of the page, it is also the best place to put it - the eye almost expects navigation in that area of the page when viewing a site.

Remember to have space at the top of your page for a logo and, if relevant, search. Some sites also put a list of links in a horizontal navigation bar underneath the logo at the top of the page.

Content

The final step is the writing of the content for your site. Remember to bear in mind the site purpose, audience, page titles and taxonomy when writing the content - or pass these details onto a copy writer if you decide to use their services.

Ensure that you write clearly and succinctly - and break up text with lots of white space, lists and perhaps a few images if they add value.

Ensure your 'calls to action' are clearly labelled and that all language you use is non-technical and free of jargon that is used inside your company.

If you follow this advice, you'll be well on the way to creating a website that works well for you, your company and - most importantly of all - your visitors.