This document discusses different types of websites and provides steps for planning and designing a website. It covers: 1) The four main types of websites: personal, organizational, topical, and commercial. 2) A six-step process for planning a website: defining goals and objectives, developing a target audience profile, choosing content, structuring pages, establishing a look and feel, and specifying navigation. 3) Additional design considerations like multimedia, animation, promotion, maintenance, and partnering with a web design firm.

2. What type of website do you need…
Personal –site allows you to advertise your employment
credentials, meet new friends, or share a common interest
or hobby with fellow enthusiasts.
Organizational-site promotes member accomplishments or
to encourage support and participation.
Topical-site supports a specific topic such as a hobby or
sport; (e.g. black-and-white photography, including tips for
amateurs, photo galleries, and online resources).
Commercial-site promotes and sells products or services.

3. 3
Step 1: Define the site’s GOALS and objectives
and then formulate a written purpose statement
for the site. Goals are the result s you want your
site to accomplish within a specific time frame,
which can be weeks, months , or years.
Objectives are those methods you will choose to
accomplish the site’s goals. A formal, written
purpose statement summarizes your site’s goals
and objectives.
Step 2: Develop a formal TARGET AUDIENCE
profile by doing research to determine both
demographic and psychographic
characteristics of potential site visitors.
Determine your audience’s wants, needs and
expectations by conducting a needs
assessment.
Step 3: The GENERAL CONTENT elements you
choose for your site must support the site’s
purpose and satisfy your target audience’s
needs and expectations.

4. 4
Step 4: The SITE STRUCTURE is the linked arrangement
of pages from the home page. The site structure
should support the site’s purpose and make it easy for
the visitors to find what they want at the site in as few
clicks as possible.
Step 5: The LOOK AND FEEL of the site is important
because you must promote unity and maintain visual
identity across pages of the site by creating visual
consistency—the consistent use of color, typeface, and
content positioning across all pages on the site.
Step 6: Specify the SITE’S NAVIGATION SYSTEM, which
consists of different types of links: text links; image
links; related group links presented as menus, bars or
tabs; and site maps.

5.  E-Commerce
 Blogs
5
• Live Chat
Use multimedia elements sparingly for
distinct purposes, ensuring that it adds
value, supports your website’s message, and
satisfies target audience expectations for
content on your site.
Use web page animation to catch a visitor’s
attention, but be selective when choosing
these elements. Overused, cutesy elements
will make your website look amateurish.
Select only those animations that will
promote the site’s message and satisfy your
audience’s expectation for content.

6. Launch a full-scale campaign using both online and traditional
promotional techniques such as Facebook, Twitter, Constant Contact,
and direct mail. Also include online directory submissions such as
Yelp, Goggle Plus, Bing to name a few, and traditional word-of-mouth.
6

7. It is important to maintain, update and retest (as necessary) your website
elements on a regular basis. As part of an ongoing maintenance plan, you
should do the following:
 Add timely, relevant, and authoritative content;
 Check for broken links and add new links;
 Include a mechanism for gathering user feedback and respond to the
feedback;
 Evaluate and implement new technologies to further your site’s
objectives and increase its accessibility and usability;
 Retest site features periodically; and
 Partner with Web Feet Communications
to design and maintain your website today!
7
Crusaders Baptist Church, Washington, DC
Contact us at 202-604-6383 or visit us at
webfeetcommunications.com for a free
consultation!

8. Web Design: Introductory Concepts and Techniques, 3rd. Ed., Gary
B. Shelly, H. Albert Napier, and Ollie Rivers, Authors
8