Designing the site tree

Often before you even get into the graphical aspects of your site, it is useful to think about the content that you will have for your site and brainstorm possible navigational schemes, otherwise known as site trees. These trees describe the way in which your site branches out into articles, products and services, and any other additional sections you may have. You would be surprised how different tree layouts can be created, but not all are created equal.

I recommend: The Boxes and Arrows.com has a great article on how to go about this. Visio is probably the best tool to lay out your site tree with.

Once you create the first layout, you will be able more easily imagine other possibilities. However you want most of your information to be accessible not more than 2 clicks away from your home page.

Content Layout

What is essential in laying out your content is that from every portion of your site your visitors should know where they are (through the use of titles and graphics), where they can go (using navigational and contextual links), and how they can get back (either to previous pages or back to the home page). Once you have developed your site tree it’s time to think about where to place your links. There two most popular are header links and sidebar links. Many sites use a combination of these two. Others use only header links.

I recommend: There are thousands of website templates out there for you to look at. Even if you don't use the template, they can give you a nice idea of the variety of ways navigation buttons are presented to the user.

Template Monster is useful for this. You can search templates by industry category in order to search for the most applicable layout.

Graphics

Eye-catching graphics, when combined with a strong layout and structure will ensure that your visitors stay a while. It is also one of the ways you can separate yourself from the competition, as there are many websites out there with very standard layouts and just a few short paragraphs. Do not underestimate unique photo stills when designing your website. When integrated properly, they can be one of the most effective ways of personalizing a web design. Photos and graphics are sure to add visual eye-candy to your information and content. And of course, a well-designed logo is a must! It should be one of the first things your reader sees when entering your site. It can also be useful to have your logo integrated into a banner-style graphic and add it to your header for a more integrated feel.

I recommend: Make sure you have a killer logo to make that all-important first impression. You should also have it in the header of all your pages to re-enforce your brand name.

For images, you may hire a professional to take high-quality customized pictures for you. An alternative would be to search for royalty free images to get you started.