After debating for awhile on the advantages and disadvantages of having a website, you have finally decided to do it. But where to start? You can't very well just hire a designer and give her free reign with your site. It's your web presence and you should have the final say in planning it.

The first thing you should do is sit down and draw out a blueprint for your site. What is its purpose? Do you wish to sell something, provide information, build brand recognition, gather leads, or more? Your overall design should match your purpose. You should not create a site without knowing what its purpose is. A good website's purpose will be indicated on the first page, and the content will back up that purpose to the full extent.

Once you have the purpose laid out, decide what the goal of the website will be. Do you want visitors to return to your site, to save money with your product/service, to make money, to provide an easier way to reach you, or something else? Write each goal down as you think of them. The goal of a website goes hand-in-hand with its purpose. Every site needs to have both of these items in order to succeed.

After you have decided on the purpose and goal of your site, then it's time to map out the flow of the site. To do that, you start with the home page and then continue through every page that follows. Each page, including layout, colors, content, and themes, should be consistent with your overall purpose, leading up to the goal of the site.

Many websites fail or turn away visitors because they lack an obvious purpose. The design isn't navigable or consistent with their vision. There is no unified message. So it's up to you, as the owner of the site, to state your mission and to make sure your design is up to par with that mission. If it isn't, then you need to work at it until it is.

Success doesn't come easy. It isn't given away. It has to be earned. It's time to start earning your success online.

NOTE: The following information must be included if you reprint this article. You may receive a copy of this article by sending an email to plansite@designolutions.com .

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Shelby Patrick is part of the creative team at Designolutions, an online company that offers creative designs, web programming, content writing, Internet training, graphics, Flash animation, and hosting services. For more information on her or the company, please visit our website at http://www.designolutions.com or email us at web@designolutions.com
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