Develop Site Content

This lesson is designed to help you develop and gather content for a Web site. In this lesson, you will learn about content and how to organize it as well as what questions to ask your client. It is recommended that you attend the classroom lectures to get the full understanding of this lesson.

Web site content and structure Determine your menu and content for your site by deciding what service, product or type of site your client is needing. Some clients have no idea what they want, it's up to the designer to help the client understand the types of Web sites there are and how to get started. Clients you're working with usually have a better understanding of their business than you do. You will need your client to provide as much information about what they do as possible - have them provide samples of brochures, business cards, newspaper ads, yellow page ads or anything else you can think of hat will help you design and structure their site. At this point, you may need to hire a copywriter to produce text for the site. If the client does not have this in their budget, then have the client provide text for you based on your guidelines. Some clients already have an idea of what they want. Use what they have and enhance it when necessary. The following are types of questions and information to get from your client. These questions will help you in the design process and better enable you to build a site map. Join Creative public and download the Web site questionnaire and use this form to interview your clients needs and wants. Questions to ask

Purpose of Web site: Ask your client what they plan to do with the site. In other words, are they selling a product like nuts and bolts or is this more of an information site, like a brochure.

Audience: Who's the target audience? Who's most likely to visit this site? What age group are you targeting?

Type of Web site: Make sure your client understands the types of sites that are out there. Help the client determine what they need, based on the "Purpose" of their site. Will this site be a portal, promotional, ecommerce, or a content site? It's up to you to educate your client so they can better understand what you are talking about.

Page links and page content: Once you have a basic understanding of what the client's needs are, then it's time to determine links, content and how many pages the site will be. Each link will have to have content based on the information you gathered from the client.For example, the home page of the Web site will have the majority of the links. It's always best to start off with the "Home" page first and then follow with other pages. For each page, you may want to add separate sheets of paper and write down the links they may have. Some site's "secondary pages" have links to other pages within the site. Later, you'll transfer this to a site map for a visual layout and structure of the site. Remember that you don't have to use these link names. Be creative with your link names, but keep them clear and understandable to your visitor. Suggested links for the "Home" page.