By Paul Barrs

There are many things that come together when building a website, but amongst all the hype, color and bells and whistles, there are six essential elements that absolutely MUST be followed when deciding on the structure of your online business.

1. Your website must be designed with the user in mind. Now I know this sounds obvious, but when I say “user” I don’t mean you. And I don’t mean your staff or your friends. Chance are they all have a similar...

By Paul Barrs.

This is the final step of the ‘creation’ steps, and while most people who build websites for themselves are too easily apt to take the easier, shorter road, such should not happen here.

Even though the planning of your website project is by far the most important stage, this area should not be neglected simply because the ‘hard yakka’ is over. Further more, due diligence should be paid here just as much as in previous steps to avoid costly errors...

By Paul Barrs

Although this area of your checklist is shorter than the others, it’s by no means any less important. In fact, if you make any errors in this stage of your ‘planning and structure’ they could hurt you down the track and probably cause you more ‘catch-up’ time than any of the others.

Here is where your outline begins to take shape… it’s the old “look before you leap” thing and “plan before you perform”.

With exception...

By Paul Barrs

So now that you’ve got all the basics down pat – it’s time to begin the actual “work”. In reality, you probably don’t need a checklist like this, but when it comes to dealing with customers and paying clients, using a checklist like this and presenting it to them along the way (with various goals check-marked and achieved) helps to boost their confidence and reduces the risk of charge-backs and conflicts.

Worst case scenario would be that even...

By Paul Barrs


When it comes time to build a new website, there are two ways to look at it….

1) Its going to be so small that you can begin and complete it in a day, or -

2) Its going to take way more than a day and a day alone may not even be enough to *think* about it!

That’s when you need a website project plan.

But where do you begin? Even as an accomplished website designer, it’s very possible that times...