My Process is this.

1. Get a rough idea of the sites content and purpose.
2. Do a search on the subject at hand and see how sucessful site like it are.
3. Start jotting down ideas.
4. Start gathering a staff around me that is willing to help out. (sometimes I skip this one.)
5. Start the design and find an acceptable layout.
6. Make a few pages of the site as kind of a demo site.
7. Launch the demo.
8. Watch the stats of the site to see the hits and how activity is.
9. If its good, luanch more of the site. If its bad, scrap it.
10. (if its bad.) Do it all over again...

It's important too, for web designers to maintain the website once it's designed and availabel on the Net. You've to fix broken links, and so on. The point is, site design covers site maintenance as well.

If you are designing a site for small businesses, the place to start is in the initial conference concerning the project. You have to understand what it is they are attempting to accomplish with their site.

Next I consider the scripting that will be required. Scripts requiring templates will play a factor in the final design decision.

I pay close attention to the client, trying to gain a perspective on their personality in hopes of incorporating it into the design. It is also important to review their current marketing strategies and advertisements.

Get any digitized logos, ads, text about themselves as possible. If the meeting is at their location, it should be so that you are able to get a better understanding of exactly what it is they do, and how they go about it, take alot of pictures of the facility, the employees, equipment, etc.

When you actually sit down to do the site, do a mock up on paper. This is primariliy for navigation purposes. I usually only mock up the index page. The goal is to have any piece of primary information within 3 clicks of the index page, hopefull this is accomplished in 2 or even 1.

I have found that doing this mock-up for link purposes really helps to get the creative juices flowing. From it you will be able to determine what kind of, and location of the navbars, the rest of the page usually falls into place after that You begin to visualize the various pieces of art and photo placements, then it is downhill from there.

It also dosen't hurt to search related sites on the net for ideas. I usually do this after the mock up, looking for a better possible way to the navigation for the links I
need to accomplish the clients goals.

One thing to remember, if you do this for a living, you have to find some middle ground between design time and the compenstaion received. In the beginning I gave away alot of scripting time in order to impress the client with quality of work I could do. That doen't feed the family. Getting paid for the scripting your doing does. If they want a Lexus, let them have it, but charge them for it.

Hopefully this will help. We all get writer's blocks and stare at blank screens, regardless of how many sites you have designed.

I have found as an artist, musician, writer, and graphic designer that no matter what 'creative' project you are working on, there is a necessary amount of revision that must be done to obtain your best results. If you focus on trying to get a creative project "perfect" on the first try, you are only going to create a writer's block type dilemma. People who tell you otherwise are usually amatuers who haven't yet come to appreciate the advantage of being able to revise one's work. Usually they are so in love with thier initial creation that they are unable to see how it could be any better and thus never pursue the revision process. This usually leads to doing the same types of works over and over. I suggest that instead of trying to 'get so good you do it right on the first try', you embrace your ability to revise your work and come up with better material than your initial attempt. That ability to revise is, in my opinion, a major advantage over those who cannot revise. I might also add that Thomas edison, while creating the light bulb, tried some 2,000 different materials before he settled on the tungsten filament or whatever he ended up using at that time. As have countless others in many area's of creative output. Successful business owners also share this 'ability to revise' as many of them have several failures under thier belt before they become largely successful.

Failure is only failure when you refuse to learn from your mistakes.

Revise
Revise
Revise

Best of luck to all with creative ventures

If you're talking about just designing the layout, here is what I always do.

1) - open up Photoshop, and make a blank document with a transparent background. I usually make sites around 750x550, but the length of the site varies. I will never go above 1024x768.

2) - The first thing I do after that is black out an area where I want my banner to go. I then copy the dimensions of that area, and start a new image where I can make my banner seperate from the rest of the layout. Once completed, I put the banner back into that black box. I design the rest of the template using the color scheme or look I choose for the banner.

3) - Next I'll creat a navigation bar or box, this usually goes at the top or some other prominent place where users will be able to see it easily. You don't want users confused as to how to get around your site...so the navigation bar usually goes right below the banner on my sites.

4) - After creating the nav bar, I'll make other necessary items on the site. These include an affiliate box (if needed), a login box, or whatever else I may need for the site.

5) - I'll then make the main box (if I plan on using iframes) where all the pages will be displayed in. If I don't plan on using iframes, I'd make an area where the news posts would go (I prefer iframes to expandable pages, though, for my small sites)

6) - Finally, once everything is finished, I'll add a watermark (usually) and then slice it up. Once sliced how I want, I save it for the web (file>save for web).

7) - I then use notepad to code it and create pages...but that doesn't have to do with creating the layout

Just make sure the layout is easy to view, easy on the eyes, small in filesize (don't make it too graphics heavy), and easy for users to navigate. The worst possible scenario is a beatiful looking layout that is gigantic in filesize, or too cluttered for the average user to find there way around. IMO, if the viewer can't figure out where to go within 10 seconds then you've designed the site poorly.

I hope this helps whoever reads it, if they want to know how I make my templates. 8)

The most important thing ot rememeber is who you are marketing to. That is manin concept and then design around that. Secondly, you should look at the functionality is. Simplicity is beeter and monument. The easier the navigation the better.

I am a BUM .. (and proud of it) .. I just copy .. a mentor of mine once said that copying is the fastest way to learn a new trick ..

1) I'll download some templates of the web. and they usually comes in photoshop format .. www.boxedart.com is a good source ..
2) I'll download free pix from places like microsoft.com which I feel that appropriate substitutes for the template ..
3) Edit those pix .. making sure the colors and overall looks do blend together ..
4) do some slice it up
5) Use PS's "Save for Web" Function ..
6) Viola .. it becomes a HTML page!!
7) do some minor adjustment or the fonts/text etc..
8) Test .. Test .. Test .. Test .. Test ..
9) Upload ..

A few of my Rules-of-Thump
a) adjust the size of the pix to the lowest possible w/o any visible lost of quality ..
When ever possible .. try to eidt the codes manually .. the WYSIWYG editors always add a hell lot of redundant codes ..
c) Include everything required and nothing more .. gone are the ol' days of blinking text and marquees .. *yikes* .. despite the popularity of broadband .. pls remember that there are still a large majority out there that are still on dial-ups ..
.. ..

.. .. hmm mm .. maybe I should do a tutorial on making a web-page on Photoshop .. (the tech aspect) ..

lol, fun fun fun. I love web designing. More specifically, I like the actual graphic part of designing. Coding is a bore. Thus, you can probably see thay most of my steps are based upon the artistic aspect of designing ^_^

1. First off, I'd take a blank sheet of paper, and start playing around with ideas. This includes, but isn't limited to, the shape of the design, the general color scheme, the placement, etc.
2. Next I set up quick/rough proportions. I keep playing around with the numbers till I get something that seems to fit a 800x600 resolution moniter perfectly.
3. I pull out graphing paper, and start sketching a more precise rendering with how I want the site to look like. Usually, i have every five boxes equal to 100px
4. I finally turn on the computer and go straight to photoshop. Again, sketch it out with straight lines to see about how large each part will be.
5. If all is well, I start drawing the graphics/banners or what have you for the site. This usually takes the longest for me cause I end up spending a lot of time coloring and "perfecting+ the design to my tastes.
6. I have slice up the .psd file and have imageready set up the generaly html.
7. Next I open up notepad (enhanced with ConTEXT) and start editing the imageready code with css, php, and javascript.
8. I look at my design on different computers/resolutions/color contrasts. And finally, I change it as needed ^_^

Ok maybe I am strange then

First thing I do is grab a piece of paper, and do a brainstorm... I write whatever pops into my head, it can be doodling, written, colour, anything. I overthink the idea I have to base a site on (this is the key for me personally), for example I want to make a site about my poetry, which is usually dark and deadish. So obviously I won't be using cheerful colours, we want the content theme and graphic theme to at least match

I may not have a set idea for navigation yet, but it's my next step. I once again take paper at hand. I write down WHAT will be on the site. Building on the previous example of poetry, I would "theme" the poems together. Perhaps "death", "hurt", "tears",... those words will become submenu items So that's how I end up with a "site-outline". Since I am a fan of Flash driven menu's, I'll type the nav-outline in xml.

Since I then already have a menu and a theme, time comes to take care of the graphics. I am one of those people who doesn't like sites with an abundance of graphics (unless of course the site is about graphics LOL) so I will stick to the basics. Now this is the odd part about this step, but for me it is essential. I choose my music. Yes, I work with music at ALL times (ok, so I am a little bit psychotic at times -no joke- thus music helps my focus by silencing voices). For a dark theme, I'll end up with gothic stuff, usually HIM, Voltaire, Cruxshadows, My Dying Bride, etc. Then I freestyle in PhotoShop

If I decide against Flash (has happened LOL) I will most likely use PS and ImageReady for the navigation as well. Oh, yeah, for colourschemes, I look at pictures on the web. For example an ice/water landscape. I use my dropper to select the hex colours and then I also have my colourscheme. Right now, we have a colour scheme, navigation, banner and a rough idea of content.

Then the coding, writing actual content begins. I tend to also made "filler" text and show the preview to some friends to see what they think of it. I end up adjusting some and in the end I got a pretty site

Mind you, I am NOT a fast builder, my goal is to have a decent site, not a quickie.

Well usually i have an idea before i start on the project. Then I get out my sketchpad and just sketch the basic design and get a feel of the layout. Then I start the designing process in Photoshop, once i get the basic design, i then add the details to it. Then i usually show my friends and get some comments and critisism on it and change it (which i always seem to do) but don't change it to much. Then i add content. Test everything myself and make sure it's working and then get my friends to check it out. Once i think it's good and is working i then advertise it on forums for people to comment on it.

Well thats my basic thoughts on how to design a webpage