To get started, you need to figure out what type of format you want to use and come up with an idea of what you want the site to look like. Make sure you write out an outline on paper so the web designer can best implement what you want on the pages.

Your outline should include a list of each section to be included on the site, with a description of what type of content will be shown on each page. It should also describe in as much detail as possible what features would be on the site, such as user accounts, commenting, social networking functions, video, or a newsletter sign-up.

The designer should take you outline and then help organize the project so that it is an accurate representation of your company and what you offer. This will allow you to add, remove, or adjust any sections or features as you go along with the process.

It will also help you develop a budget and a time frame and build the site. Agreeing on a price for a website project based on an approved outline will help to avoid additional fees or differences in opinion late in the project.

Wireframes are simple line drawings of website layouts that allow you to focus on placement of elements rather than color and type. This is extremely helpful as it determines what content deserves the most focus and what percentage of the space on the page.

Without being distracted by other visual elements, approved wireframes provide a framework for your designs. Once you and the designer are content with the wireframes, you can start to design the site.

Adobe Photoshop is the most common tool for creating the initial designs. The focus of the design should be to present the content, not have flashy colors and animations.

Though these elements have their place, they should not overpower what the customer is looking for. Consistent navigation will help your customers find all your main content areas, while clean use of type will keep them reading and coming back for more.

Before you have actual content for a site design, Lorem Ipsum text will help fill spaces without distracting your client. When you approve the design for you company, the pages need to be turned from mockups into actual web pages written in HTML and CSS.

Experienced developers may choose to take on all the coding, while others who specialize in design may choose to focus on the look of the web. This person may work closely with a developer to bring the site to life.

If that is the case, the developer should be involved from the start, helping to make sure that the design is a realistic and an effective layout. They also need to ensure that the promised features are both possible to execute and beneficial to the site.

Software such as Adobe Dreamweaver can help a designer turn a mockup into a working web page, with drag-and-drop features, pre-built functions and buttons to add links and images. If the site is done in Flash, it will be built within the Flash software rather than in HTML or other languages.

Once your layout is completed in HTML and CSS, it needs to be integrated with the system you have chosen in order to build a functioning website. This may mean developing templates to be read by a content management system, altering a WordPress template, or using Dreamweaver to create links between pages and more advanced web features.

This is a step that may be left to another member or members of the team. With your website online, you can then start to promote it using SEO techniques.

Driving traffic to a site can include optimizing it for search engines, sending newsletters to highlight new content, advertising with Google or with banner ads on other sites, and more conventional methods such as print advertising and word-of-mouth. One of the best ways to keep people coming back to your site is to keep the content fresh.

With all of the work put into a site, you do not want it to remain the same for months after the launch. Continue to post new content, photos, videos, music, or whatever the site was built to present.