Rich content with substance is essential. Not necessarily short, not necessarily long, but concise, thorough and easy for a user to quickly absorb the message. The beauty of a web site is the fact there is no limitation of time or space. But whatever amount of space is consumed, it must be dedicated to the worthiness of a user's time.

Web content can be static, dynamic, functional and transactional. It may involve a complete business cycle of information delivery, marketing sales, interaction and customer service. And there is likely going to be application technology required to seamlessly tie the ingredients together.

Give users what they need to know, what they expect to know and what they need to do with it. No less. No more. And no excess unnecessary words. Generally users will quickly scan content looking for key-indicators that arouse their interest. They will typically read those respective portions, but will download long-running text for reading at a more convenient time. Upload speed, download speed, "click enlargements" and PDF downloads will likely be factors that should be considered when determining content, its usage, the way it is made available and the manner in which it is delivered.

GROUPING WEB CONTENT

Group your web content within main and sub level categories into hierarchical relationship.

You must then consider other content aspects such as Online Contact, Order Processing and Delivery Information as well as how those interact and relate to other areas.

What you initially think will be easy and logical will likely become varyingly difficult and confusing even to you, yet alone to a potential visitor. There will be both subjective and objective variations that will be viewed from differing perspectives within your planning committee.

Although your initial Site Map will rarely resemble the final version, one must be diagrammed very early in the process to help you visualize a basic starting point.

SITE MAP

A Site Map is essentially a block diagram that depicts the most logical relationship of various web content. It also represents the most ideal and your most preferred chronological "tour" you would like the user to follow… a map with an intended path. This diagram will change many, many times until you reach a consensus of included content and how the context of relationship should be presented that will best complement both your goals and the user's experience.

Frequently the final site map is included as a "page" within the site to provide a "Table of Contents" purpose. It's an immediate and convenient way for a user to view all site content to quickly determine relative interest without wasting valuable time.

Your site map is the "blueprint" to develop and construct your web site. How efficiently it is executed will most likely determine the actual user experience and ultimately will platform the success of your web design and development mission.

PREPARING WEB CONTENT

Prepare clean manuscript with a word processing program. Indicate messaging priorities by varying type sizes and using bold and medium variations. Make sure spell-check features are utilized. Content will always be subject to modification both before design phases begin and after the pages are developed. However the text must be as accurate as possible before finalizing your web pages.

The preceding is basic in context. It can be significantly more intricate and complex depending upon the nature of your web objectives and enterprise business model. The process and considerations can and should be modified based upon complexity.

Plan your web design and development carefully in detail.
It's too important to your web site success.