Wire Frame Your Site

Sometimes it makes sense to wire frame your site before sending it to be designed.  This is simply sitting down with and working out the structure of your site.  It can help you understand the path that you want people to take through your site and where you want them to ultimately end up.

You can use a piece of paper and pen, Visio, Word or one ot he off the shelf packages that create more complex layouts.  You could even do some rapid prototyping of the site layout using HTML itself.

Either way it helps you think about your site and the structure of it.  Most web design companies can provide the service to you but it often helps to jot down your ideas in advance.  Here are 5 simple tips for a basic site.

• Don’t plan too deep.  Think 3-4 clicks to your goal.
• Less is more.  Think of combining information on one page.
• There is not a page number goal either.  Good navigation and structure can make all the difference
• Stop and look regularly at the wire frame.  Look at similar sites that you like take tips and examples.
• Don’t spend too much time on the wire frame – over analysis can often slow the process.

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