When I made my first website years and years ago, I first drew it out. Write down all the parts you want on the site. Don't start drawing what you want until you have a COMPLETE list of things you want on the main page of your website.

After you have your list, start drawing blocks. Draw a block for the header, where the navigation is (on the top, under the header, to the left or to the right.) Remember people don't want to look at a list of things a mile long to find out what they need. Instead, if you happen to have a ton of articles or products you need to organize, take a pointer from Site Source 101 and clump everything you think has some value into different categories with simple, easy to use buttons.

Always think about where you want eyes to be on the page. If you want people to read from top to bottom, you shouldn't put a left or right navigation on the page since it will distract form where the potential customer should be focusing on. Also remember that all westerners read from left to right. You should put important things on the left and then display the information on the right. Its is much more intuitive to your potential customers. Conversely, if you are trying to attract middle eastern buyers and certain other foreign languages, research if they read left to right or right to left and cater to them. In this case the customer is always right.

By mapping out your website on paper, you're not thinking about the technical difficulties, you're thinking about what works. You can always find someone to 'make it work' your job is to think up what you need. This is great because you get to dream. Dream up animations, images, text blocks and more.

Make sure your site is true to its intended use. If you have an information site, you should have things clearly laid out to present as little frustration as possible. Always try to be as 'hassel free' as possible. If you have an e-commerce site and you have one buy button on the bottom of the page, you have a problem. Think about the different types of people coming to your page; customers, prospects, information junkies, bouncers and more, does your site cater to all these groups? Mapping out your website at the beginning will make things incredibly easier down the road. Foresight is key.