When you’re getting ready to plan a new website, one of the first steps to getting organized for the project is to create a website project outline. This doesn’t need to be intimidating. Sure, there are optimal ways to plan the outline for your site — like wireframing — but having any decent set of plans is a great first step.
The Quick And Easy Way To Make A Website Project Outline
1. Brainstorm and make a list of all of the pages you’d like to have on the new website with a brief note to go with each that explains what that page is about and what it should accomplish. Use this list to explain your overall vision to your designers.
2. Organize the pages into a logical flow. This is the “Outline” portion of the planning process. With websites, the structure usually consists of a handful of main category pages and subpages for each of these main pages that break into additional detail for each category. Some folks go as far as making note cards, one for each desired page, and laying them all out on a table and organizing them into groups. This might seem like overkill, but for larger sites, it certainly could be a good way to visualize how it will all fit together. With a good ordered outline, your web designer and developers will be able to get a feel for what you’re aiming to accomplish and will be able to use this to create the navigational structure of your site. It’s very helpful to create a good outline like this.
3. Think of additional features you might want to have on the site. What are your competitors doing that you really like or don’t like? Are these features you might want to include in your website? This is the opportunity to make a list of potential ideas and pass them along to your web designer for conversation and feedback. Your web designer will appreciate this portion of the website outline, even if it is just a list of talking points, as it ultimately helps the designer understand your vision and create a possible solution that is going to match your goals.
And that’s pretty much it as far as creating a quick and easy website outline — just 3 simple steps. Easy enough, right?
Again, this isn’t a full, working wireframe, nor does it get into the solutions and specifics that your web designers and developers will use to help reach your goals for the site. What it does do is provide clear, easy-to-share communication that your designer will be able to use to understand your vision and objectives for the site. It allows them to create the solutions to make it all happen and deliver the great result you expect from a professional.
And why not leave the heavy lifting to the designers and developers…after all, that’s their job, right?
