How many pages will your Web site include? What type of pages will they be? Creating a site map helps you not only answer these questions, but organize your pages into categories (thereby creating a navigation structure).
Start your site map with a high-level list of the types of pages you’ll need. Here’s a list of the most common Web pages.
One of the easiest ways to organize your site map is to use an outline frame work. The screenshot below shows the site map for the Web solutions section of the Hostway.com Web site.
In the example above, the bolded headings are landing pages for primary sections that also make up the secondary navigation. Additional sub pages are listed under the primary sections to which they belong.
Creating your site map is one of the most important parts of the planning process. Once you’re done with it, you have an outline of your entire Web site and a structure on which to build.