There's an old adage... a business who fails to plan, plans to fail. It's the same with a website! Planning is the most important aspect of building a website. From the planning phase you will get an idea of how much it will cost to create the functionality that you are looking for.

If a website is thrown together without any cohesive thought behind the construction it really shows and people are put off by it... they don't like to go there because they can't easily find what they want. Through planning you give yourself the opportunity to really think out what you are trying to achieve with your website and your business. You also get the opportunity to understand what it will cost to create your website and can modify the functionality to meet your budget.

Mission Statement
This is a tool all successful businesses have - it doesn't have to be very long but it summarizes what you are trying to accomplish with your business. The mission statement should describe why your company exists in the marketplace. It portrays your business identity and philosophy. The things you should find in a mission statement are noted below.

• Description of company purpose
• Identification of consumer group served by your company

Site Mapping
Site Mapping is the process of creating a site map for your website. It's a way to visualize the information categories within your website. When creating a site map you need to keep in mind the purpose of your website, what information are you trying to convey to the public and how you want them to see you. The site map drives your website design, content and navigation. An example of a rudimentary site map is shown below.

A website will normally contain more than 1 page. Each information category above would create a web-page. The sub-categories may also require a page each.

Page Maps
In a page map you are creating the blueprint for the information content of that particular page of your website. Because of this, you will want to focus on the purpose of each page for which you are creating the page map. A good place to start is the Home page. In the example above, the site map lays out for you the content of the Home page. Products, Services, Specials, About Us and Contact Us would be listed on the Home page but would be links to each individual page. Determine what information you want to display on the page and assign tables for that information. Draw out your tables and the file names you'll be linking to, such as products.html. Note where you want to display graphics (pictures), navigation menu, scripts (programs you can use to add functionality to your web pages) and/or animations.

Repeat this process for each page that will be contained in your website. From here you can start the design process based on the site map and page maps. From this mapping process, you will be able to

• clearly identify how you want to layout your website
• work faster
• reduce mistakes and changes to your website.

Estimating
Once you've created the page maps you will want to determine if you have the capabilities and the time to create the website yourself or if you will want to employ the services of a reputable agency/company to complete the website. Cost and ability is normally what drives the decision here. Don't let yourself be deluded into thinking you can do your own website successfully if you've never done one - the odds are against you. However, that doesn't mean that a good website necessarily has to be expensive. Search for a good provider who will meet all of your needs. Consult with various agencies, sharing your maps, and get quotes. A good agency will make suggestions based on the maps you submit and include those in the quotes.

Research the costs for the entire project and then make the decision that is best for you. You will find that costs reside in the following areas:

• graphic design
• website development
• search engine submissions
• web hosting
• domain name registration
• advertising