{"id":3560,"date":"2012-02-23T13:04:10","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T18:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pixsym.com\/?p=3560"},"modified":"2024-01-12T14:20:19","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T19:20:19","slug":"web-design-creating-a-sitemap-first-saves-time-money-and-headache","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pixsym.com\/web-design-creating-a-sitemap-first-saves-time-money-and-headache\/","title":{"rendered":"Web Design: Creating a Sitemap First Saves Time, Money, and Headache"},"content":{"rendered":"

A planning sitemap is pretty much what it sounds like \u2013 a map of a website in its beginning stages. It basically gives the web pages an order of importance along with an idea of what\u00a0will be on each page.<\/p>\n

Creating a sitemap as the first stage of web design (or redesign) allows you to avoid visual distractions and focus solely on the most important part of the website \u2013 the content.\u00a0Spending time on this stage can reduce the agony of restructuring later, which takes a lot more effort once the website is built.<\/p>\n

Think Of Your Sitemap As A Blueprint For Your Future Website<\/strong><\/p>\n

It may be helpful to think of a website like a house. You would certainly not put a bed in the kitchen. You want all the relative information on one page. The sitemap is the equivalent of rooms and furniture in your house. Since all beautiful buildings began with a blueprint, it stands to reason that all well-organized, eye-catching websites should begin with a sitemap.<\/p>\n

When considering the website, keep in mind the pages are created for the content, not the other way around. So when thinking of the blueprint of the house, you begin with the furniture and build the rooms necessary to hold it.<\/p>\n

Think About the End-User First<\/strong><\/p>\n

The whole point of design is for the user. Create a few\u00a0user personas<\/a> and envision them visiting the site for the first time. Go through the motions of what content you should see first. How you would go from one page to another and what the logical steps would be to take you there. If you have ever been a visitor to a poorly-designed website, you may have experienced frustration when you were unable to find what you thought should have been obvious and left before you accomplished your goal, even if you meant to buy something.<\/p>\n

The user is the whole reason the website exists, so that you can draw people in. Making the website easy to navigate is as important as making it eye-catching.<\/p>\n

Ideas for Creating a Planning Sitemap<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since everybody thinks in a different way and every website is different in some way, there is no right or wrong method to use when making a sitemap to plan your website. You can use this stage to gain valuable feedback from others and allow them to provide ideas that you might not have otherwise thought of \u2013 again, minus visual distraction.<\/p>\n

If you are starting with a blank slate, just start with key areas first to get ideas flowing. Research your industry and get a look at what content others are using and then think \u201cHow can I improve upon this\u201d? If you are working through a redesign, start with your website\u2019s current content and improve upon it by discarding pages that may not be needed or can be consolidated and adding new pages strategically.<\/p>\n