The following are guidelines and questions to consider when developing a new website.

1. Define the purpose of your website. What do you hope to achieve? How will the website assist you in meeting your departmental/program goals and objectives?
   
   
2. Know your reader. Design for your reader. Who is your main audience(s)? What information will your main audience(s) be looking for?
   
   
3. Prepare an outline of your content (or site navigation). How will your content be organized and displayed so it is easy to search and navigate?
   
   
4. Keep it simple and organized. Content should be clear, concise and to the point. Use short paragraphs and subheads for easy page scrolling.
   
   
5. What are your website action items? Keep it interactive. What do you want your reader to do? For example: apply? inquire? submit feedback? fill out a form?
   
   
6. How will you maintain your website and keep the content fresh? For example – news and events, highlights and monthly features can be items changed frequently. Photography can rotate. Keep static content updated regularly to ensure up-to-date information.
   
   
7. How will you keep your readers coming back to your site? Maintain engaging content that changes. Email reminders? Action items? Newsletters?
   
   
8. Measure and evaluate the success of your website with tracking reports (provided by Web team) and regular feedback from your readers. What is working? What is not working?

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