Part II: Information Architecture
Once you've done a bit of brainstorming and clarified your vision, the next step is to put together a "map" of sorts of your site. Proper planning is crucial towards making a great web site, so be sure to have patience when constructing the map for your site -- your discipline will be well-rewarded when your site is launched.
Think in Terms of Categories
When constructing the map for your site, it helps to think in terms of modules, or categories, that you want your site built in. For example, suppose you are making an international sports news site that will provide coverage of professional sports around the world. There are a number of ways you could structure the primary content -- international sports news -- of the site:
If you're a small business owner selling products/services, chances are you don't need a particularly complex category structure. Below is a category structure that will work for the vast majority of small business web sites.
About Us -- A section that offers a bio of sorts of your company and emphasizes the credibility of your organization. Example: Check out the About Us section of the Boston Consulting Group's web site. It discusses the company's mission statement, its history, and more.
Contact Us -- Enabling your visitors to contact you is one of the most important things you do to increase your sales. Having a visible contact us section can be a useful tool to this end. Example: Consider the contact us page of Rackspace, one of the leading providers of managed hosting services. The page is well-organized and contains all the contact information any visitor could ask for. By making it easy for visitors to contact them, Rackspace is making it all the easier for visitors to enter into a relationship with them.
Why Your Company -- Every business has a competitor of sorts. Who is your competition? Why should someone choose you over the competition? Having a section to address the competitive advantages of your company can be a great way to make an honest but strong sales pitch. Example: Elixir manufactures guitar strings that have a longer life and a richer sound. Their "Why Elixir Strings?" section makes that clear to all their visitors.
Products/Services -- What are you selling? This is your shopping cart; it's where the decision to purchase is ultimately made. If you're selling a large quantity of products -- like Amazon or iStockPhoto -- this can be the dominant part of your site. The key here is to enable the quickest checkout system possible. Amazon is particularly skilled at this, as its patented "one click checkout" system allows previous customers to complete a purchase with just one click.
How it Works -- If your business is unconventional, or is very much a niche offering, you need to ensure that your web site can properly explain what exactly you are selling. Explaining how the your service works -- meaning offer a sequential series of events describing what happens after payment is made -- can be extremely useful and necessary. Example: Netflix has a great "How it Works" section that illustrates exactly how the firm's innovative offering -- renting DVDs online and returning them in a postage paid envelope -- operates and provides value.
Depending on what your business is all about, you could have many other categories; there are no hard and fast rules regarding what can and what can't constitute a category. Simply look to create the categories that are most relevant for your business so that your web site is built upon a solid vision and infrastructure.
Lastly, always remember the paramount issue when making a web site aimed at selling products/services: trust. Accordingly, when contemplating what category structure works best for you, choose the one that will help you earn the visitor's trust.
Think in Terms of Categories
When constructing the map for your site, it helps to think in terms of modules, or categories, that you want your site built in. For example, suppose you are making an international sports news site that will provide coverage of professional sports around the world. There are a number of ways you could structure the primary content -- international sports news -- of the site:
- You could label each country a category. For instance, there would be a category for Canada that discussed all professional Canadian sports teams; a category for Greece that discussed all professional Greek sports teams; a category for Brazil that discussed all professional Brazilian sports teams; and so on.
- You could label a sport a category. For instance, you could label baseball a category, and publish news articles pertaining to professional baseball from around the world there. You could do the same for basketball, hockey, soccer, cricket, and so on.
If you're a small business owner selling products/services, chances are you don't need a particularly complex category structure. Below is a category structure that will work for the vast majority of small business web sites.
About Us -- A section that offers a bio of sorts of your company and emphasizes the credibility of your organization. Example: Check out the About Us section of the Boston Consulting Group's web site. It discusses the company's mission statement, its history, and more.
Contact Us -- Enabling your visitors to contact you is one of the most important things you do to increase your sales. Having a visible contact us section can be a useful tool to this end. Example: Consider the contact us page of Rackspace, one of the leading providers of managed hosting services. The page is well-organized and contains all the contact information any visitor could ask for. By making it easy for visitors to contact them, Rackspace is making it all the easier for visitors to enter into a relationship with them.
Why Your Company -- Every business has a competitor of sorts. Who is your competition? Why should someone choose you over the competition? Having a section to address the competitive advantages of your company can be a great way to make an honest but strong sales pitch. Example: Elixir manufactures guitar strings that have a longer life and a richer sound. Their "Why Elixir Strings?" section makes that clear to all their visitors.
Products/Services -- What are you selling? This is your shopping cart; it's where the decision to purchase is ultimately made. If you're selling a large quantity of products -- like Amazon or iStockPhoto -- this can be the dominant part of your site. The key here is to enable the quickest checkout system possible. Amazon is particularly skilled at this, as its patented "one click checkout" system allows previous customers to complete a purchase with just one click.
How it Works -- If your business is unconventional, or is very much a niche offering, you need to ensure that your web site can properly explain what exactly you are selling. Explaining how the your service works -- meaning offer a sequential series of events describing what happens after payment is made -- can be extremely useful and necessary. Example: Netflix has a great "How it Works" section that illustrates exactly how the firm's innovative offering -- renting DVDs online and returning them in a postage paid envelope -- operates and provides value.
Depending on what your business is all about, you could have many other categories; there are no hard and fast rules regarding what can and what can't constitute a category. Simply look to create the categories that are most relevant for your business so that your web site is built upon a solid vision and infrastructure.
Lastly, always remember the paramount issue when making a web site aimed at selling products/services: trust. Accordingly, when contemplating what category structure works best for you, choose the one that will help you earn the visitor's trust.
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