Sitemap Creator

1. Define the scope of the website

Bring all stakeholders involved in the website development together and hold a kick-off meeting. Discuss the goals, objectives and the general scope of the website. Using Creately’s whiteboarding tools and integrations, outline the process of creating a sitemap. Don’t forget to use sticky notes to highlight and note down important information. You can also use a basic mind map or a flowchart on Creately to quickly gather ideas.

2. Gather and analyze content

Gather and analyze all the content such as images, text, videos, etc., that will be included in the website.

3. Create a site inventory and organize the content

If you are revamping an existing website, review the existing pages, content, structure and organization of the site. Also don’t forget to look into the data related to user behavior and search engine performance.

If you are building a website from scratch, first take a look at the gathered content. Then organize the content and determine the structure of the website. Use Creately’s navigable folder structure to organize information easily.

4. Narrow down the main sections and categories

Based on the goals, objectives, content and other information, break down the website into main sections and categories. Brainstorm with your team using the Creately platform, infinite canvas and the freehand drawing tool to sketch a quick structure for reference.

5. Create a hierarchy

Before you start creating the hierarchy, establish some ground rules for editing the template: how to organize different sections and format the data, and what information should be included in each field.

Start by organizing the pages and content into a clear, easy-to-navigate hierarchy. Use a Creately template, flexible and easily customizable, or create one from scratch. Enable the sitemap shape library and use Creately’s advanced formatting capabilities to customize the color and text.

With the home page as the root, add the second-level sitemap pages or parent pages to the canvas, which typically include “About Us”, “Pricing”, or “Contact”. Add third-level, sometimes even fourth-level, child pages under the parent pages that contain related content.

Create detailed entries for each page of the website, including the page title, URL, and any relevant metadata. Use the notes panel to add attachments, links to wireframes and designs, data and notes on each of the pages.

6. Test a few different scenarios

Test a few different scenarios of your website structure by rearranging content and parent and child pages to find the optimal sitemap. Simply copy your initial sitemap and paste it anywhere else on the Creately infinite canvas to make changes. Or you can simply duplicate the workspace and have the variations saved separately.

7. Review and finalize

Once the sitemap is created, schedule a review meeting with team members and stakeholders to gather feedback and make any necessary revisions.

To share the workspace, include the relevant stakeholders’ email addresses in the collaborator panel and provide necessary permissions to add comments, suggestions, edit, and update in real-time. Use notifications and full-version history to keep track of changes made, so you can easily revert to an earlier version if necessary.

Once all changes are finalized, you are ready to start with the development of the website. Assign tasks to your team through the task panel and track the progress.