• Sit down and write out some ideas – use idea trees,
  
  
• Make an outline from the idea trees to define what you want on your site.
  
  
• Sketch out each page from your outline (a limited version of the storyboard approach is an effective tool for site design).
  
  
• Make note of which material will be updated on a recurring basis.
  
  

Think of your site as a new kind of book that responds to the reader, one with many pages. In this case, the first page or "home page" guides users to other parts of your site. The home page is a combination of the title page and table of contents, and the means to navigate to different parts of your site. It tells the user who you are, interesting things they can do when visiting the site, and offers a map for information and resources the site offers. Keep this in mind as you sketch out the home page.

Next, list what will be included on each of the supporting pages, what information each will convey, then move on to actually sketching out the content for each page. The resulting "storyboards" provide a clear representation of what goes where, as well as what you need (documents, images, graphics, etc.) to create each page. You can note these things as you develop ideas. The storyboards offer the added benefit of being an excellent tool for maintaining design consistency across the pages, which is very important so visitors can easily navigate and get where they want to go.

Whether you're laying out a single page, or a series of pages within a section, think of each page or part as a mini-site. The home page is the front cover, what the user sees first, and serves to orient them. You should provide clear ways to guide your guests from page-to-page, in both a linear and nonlinear order. Storyboards help you plan this out clearly and keep you on track.

The possibilities for designing a new site are nearly infinite, but the single-most important rule is to be consistent. Because Web sites can link anywhere, it's important for all the pages on your site to have a common look and feel, and thus allow the visitor to know where they are. Insure the home page tells the readers what's on the site.

Keeping these concepts in mind will serve you well, and remember:

• Consistent logos and layout schemes help build visitor awareness, so they can find you again.
  
  
• Creating pages in the same format (templates) minimizes the effects of personnel changes – anybody can work on a page, not just the designer who created it.