Planning a web page

As every good designer knows, a great web design starts with a better page level planning. This is the details in the page. The amount of content plays a vital role. Navigation within the website also comes into the picture.

At the beginning, a wireframe is created for each unique page. The wireframe is a diagram view of a page. It employs simple shapes and text elements to display the structure of a page, its navigation and the page content. Many software programs are available to web designers to create wireframes. Examples of such software are Illustrator and InDesign. Microsoft Visio is also used to develop sitemaps.

Content zones should be clearly mapped out. This particularly holds true for large websites. In such cases, a template is created first. This will help the web design team to quickly map out content zones for each web page. This is done to ensure that all the web pages will work together and exhibit the required consistency.

The template in page level planning includes important information to assist the team to meet the goals set at page level. For example, an important business goal is to showcase new products on the home page. The subsequent pages, however, will display other products that are compatible with the user’s interest. If the web design professional has such knowledge, then it is possible to demarcate a few content zones. Relative placement may also be displayed. The sizing and priority of these contents are also shown. Important elements are usually located at the top of the page. Elements of relatively low importance are placed at the bottom of the web page or below the fold.

The main aim of having a wireframe is to act as a list of activities that is done in each page from the perspective of content and media. The interaction design is also mapped out. Examples of wireframe display include what copy and the amount of quantity that goes into each page. It also determines the CMS objects that are placed in the page- this is applicable when a Content Management System or CMS is used. It also includes the variety of media and images like flash and video files that will be placed on the page. The interaction and technical plan for the page- like links, drop down menus, check boxes, buttons and expanding content areas are also included.

Many web design Sydney professionals- at tandem with their global counterparts create wireframes at the same size as the website that will finally be created. The layout should be comfortable and the designer must determine the point where the user must scroll to continue reading and viewing the web page. If this is not done, there can be trouble at the design stage later on. The graphics should not be squeezed required by the wireframe into the page. On the other hand, the web page may look sparse if there is not enough text to appropriately fill the page.