If you’ve read my FREE Creative Brief post you know I believe any creative project will benefit from starting with a plan. Whether you are branding your company or building a Web site, putting your goals on paper is important.
In the spirit of FREE stuff, I will again offer a free questionnaire—this time for a Web site. Should you choose to fill it out with gusto, you will be rewarded with an collection of your responses in one neat and tidy document. After you submit the form I will send an email to you with a PDF document attached with my questions and your answers. When the day comes to contact a creative (like PCGS or the designer/developer of your choice) you will be better equipped to supply them with key information.
Branding vs. Site Planning
This may seem like pointing out the obvious but it must be noted that designing a Web site does not include logo design or branding for a business. Branding should be addressed before you have a site built. But sometimes it isn’t. Any designer worth their salt isn’t going to do it all for the same price as a Web site. So please be prepared. Branding or logo design is a separate project. If you haven’t already done so, check out my FREE Creative Brief post and get started on your first order of business. If you already have that aspect of your marketing plan completed—then by all means, let’s talk about Web site goals.
Diagramming a Site Plan is Highly Recommended
If you want to make your communications with your developer more effective, by all means, sketch out how you think your site should be structured. But there are two aspects to the structure of a site. Page st My pricing structure is affected by how much time I need to spend in all phases including the planning.
The term “site map” will bring to mind a different meaning for a Webmaster than for most folks, so for the sake of this article I refer to site planning as making a diagram. Something that looks like a genealogy family tree or a very simplified flowchart. Often times people sketch something like this on a napkin at a business lunch. Even if you do make the effort, please don’t be offended if you get a lot of questions or confused looks because without clarification—sometimes a diagram only makes sense to the person who drew it. Don’t worry, a good developer will keep asking questions until everyone is on the same page. It is an additional means of communication that can help clear up any weaknesses that arise from responses in the questionnaire. It can especially help with choosing an ideal site navigation scenario.
If you have a diagram in digital form I provide a place in the form where you can attach it. So grab your diagram and let’s get busy!
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