With a few simple tips and guidelines, you can put together a plan that outlines everything you need to get the graphics right and can be implemented using your content management system to give you a website that does what it was designed to do.
Marketing strategies:
What are you trying to communicate to who?
Functionality:
What does it do?
Results:
What are the KPI's and how are you going to measure them?
Only when you have identified the purpose, described it in fine detail, defined the results you are expecting and outlined exactly how you intend to measure its success, can you start working on your marketing strategies and then proceed to step 2.
Layout:
What are your information islands?
Look & feel
What styles and moods are you trying to create?
Shape & colours
What preferences do you have? Any examples of likes & dislikes?
Only when you have drawn the wire-frame layouts for each page type, know exactly what is going where, specified the margins and the white-space, and defined the colours and gradated areas, can you start working on your graphic design and then proceed to step 3.
Interaction:
What forms / polls / shopping baskets are included?
Content
What articles & products are included?
Information Architecture:
What connects and organises your content?
Only when you have outlined the interactive elements of your website, listed all the content that needs to be written, classified it and drawn up a menu and other methods of navigation, and defined paths of information to guide your readers, can you finally begin to develop your website and build it into the ultimate marketing tool you need it to be.