Maybe you've heard the phrase "content is king!" Well, selecting your content, that is deciding what information you want to put on your site, is the most important decision you'll make. The initial temptation is to immediately put up all the information you have on hand - but doing so without a plan simply creates a jumble of information. 

It should be immediately apparent to visitors what content is available on your site. Names of hyperlinks should be intuitive, and good content should never be more than one click away. Don't bury content on a particular topic too deep - that is, too many clicks away - into the site. 

Since creating a website is much like traditional publishing, consider how newspapers, books and magazines are organized. Some of the best websites are organized along these same lines. They have a table of contents or index, and are divided into logical sections or departments. The headings are easy to read and decipher - and they're interesting, to catch a readers eye. And graphics are used to help tell the story and add interest to the publication. These same principles same hold true for publishing on the web.

Many people would have identified graphics as the number one thing to consider when creating a site. Actually, we recommend that graphics be considered after content and site layout are decided. Graphics should be used to enhance the visitor's experience, and to help convey your message. Resist the temptation to over­do it on your web page. Keep graphics to under 35k in size for banners, headlines and main images, and under ok for thumbnail, or small size images. For images used as bullets, keep them as small as possible. At the end of this handout are online addresses where you can get images to use for bullets, animations, and backgrounds.