We have all seen sites that have several pages that seem to go through an electronic labyrinth. As you travel through the site there are many pages without proper navigation. You end up somewhere in the site but you don't know how to get where you are going and you can barely find your way back.

There is a similar problem that occurs when creating a web site. If all your text, images, forms, and scripts end up in the same directory, or scattered throughout the site, trying to locate the correct files becomes an unmanageable task as the site grows in size.

Also, there are sites that have a never ending array of spinning and swirling. If there is a place to fit an extra graphic, there are two.

All of these examples, and several others not mentioned, are a result of poor web site design.

Fundamentally, web design is one of the most critical parts of creating a web site. Anyone can say they can build a web site. Off the shelf products like Microsoft FrontPage claim to be able to allow anybody with a computer to create a web presence, but a web site without proper design is usually doomed to failure. The failure becomes evident when people leave because your site has driven them away.

Some of basic things to consider when designing a web site are:

• What is my message?
• Who are my anticipated users?
• How will I separate my message into distinct pages?
• Will this be used for e-commerce or have a database?
• How will users contact me?
• What will be the logical flow through the site?
• What will the directory structure look like?
• What will the color scheme look like?
• What will be the approximate layouts of the pages?

There are many more considerations to define when in the design phase of web site building, but this site is meant to be an overview of site construction, not how to build. If you would like to know more about web site design or would like us to design you a web site, please contact us.