The most important part of building a web site is planning. You need to know some important info before you ever start putting your site online.

1. Who is the site for?
This is probably the most important question on the list. The answer to this will affect everything you do afterwards.
• Example: If the site is only for adults or for kids then you’ll have to look into the legal ramifications. There are laws setup to protect children on the Internet that you’ll have to become familiar with.
2. What kind of site is it?
This will go a long way to helping you decide how the site is set up.
• Example: A social networking site will need far different software running it than a blog or family genealogy site.
3. What features do you need/want? (and how you can tell the difference)
You know what kind of site you want to build and who your intended readership is, now you need to figure out what tools you need to get the site running.
• Example: Jennifer wants to build a site for her hamster. she’d like to get in touch with other owners of rare Three-Toed Spotted Short Hair Hamsters. She’ll need a way to allow other TTSSHH lovers to post messages on her site, maybe even a way to let them post pictures of their hamsters in cute outfits.
4. What do you need to make the site work?
Now that you know how you want your site to function, you need to figure out how to get it to work the way you want. This can be an easy question, or a hard one. It really depends on how flexible your needs are and how you want to implement them. Chances are that you’ll be using a Content Management System of some sort. Whether it’s a blog, a membership site or a wiki, you’ll need a way to easily manage your site once it’s up and running.
• Example: Jennifer’s needs are simple. She wants to be able to post messages and let other people do the same. She considers a blog, but that seems like the spotlight is on her when she wants everyone who loves Three-Toed Spotted Short Hair Hamsters to be a part of the site. Jennifer decides to build a Message Board.
5. Do you need help or do you feel comfortable doing things yourself?
This can be a tough one. It’s very important that you be honest with yourself about your skill level with computers. Check out some sites that professional webmasters hang out at. If you can’t understand what they’re talking about then you might need some help. Don’t be afraid to ask people you know for help, and don’t be afraid to learn to do things for yourself. If your expertise isn’t on the technological side don’t worry. There are a lot of ways to find people who can handle things under the hood for you.
• Example: Jennifer knows a lot about hamsters, but not much about web sites. Her brother Paul is very good with computers. She hires him to build her web site, she just has to do his laundry.

Those are only a few questions you’ll need to answer before you ever register the domain name. The more you know before getting started the better your site will be in the end.

Come back later when we’ll go into more detail on these questions as well as yours.