This is the sixth post in a sequence about working with your web consultant or designer to build your site. Today we’ll have a look at the pages you need to post from the outset.
Normally, your designer will discuss this early in your site planning and so at this stage, you will already have a plan for the first site layout. It is easy to change the layout with WordPress and so you are not stuck with the same page structure for all time. But if you want to get a basic site online, you will need this early plan.
If you have not already done so, you need to map out the site pages. You may consider the following, for your first site:
- Home page – your chosen theme may decide your home page content. So, its worth having an idea of the content for the home page before you choose the theme.
- About page – WordPress provides a sample About page, so you need to decide whether you want to keep it and if so what you want to put on it.
- You will have some pages that contain your site content. Remember the rule is one topic per page. Don’t overload pages with masses of information across a range of subjects. You may have pages about resources, links, products, services, causes, etc.
- Contact page may be helpful especially if you want to show a map or photographs. If you have a small amount of contact information, you might put it in the footer. Most people know to look there but it’s possible some visitors won’t scroll down to find it.
You can create a wireframe, showing the site structure. This is a diagram showing how the pages relate to each other. Some pages will be in submenus within your navigation.
If you plan pages in advance, you can work on the content whilst your designer sets up the site. Your designer is likely to want to create placeholder pages so that s/he can set up the navigation. You really don’t want empty pages. Your designer could at this stage show you how to create pages and add in your content. If you work alongside your designer you can ask for feedback as the site develops.
So, have I missed any common page types for an initial site? I have omitted the page-types I’ve covered in the sequence about the hidden life of websites, as they are likely to be added later.
