I'm no master, but I'd like to share something I did when I first started developing my site. This goes along with what mik said and is especially helpful if you have a very large site with a whole lot of information to organize.
When I began the development of my website, I started with a notebook and a pencil...and later an industrial strength pencil sharpener to keep up with me. As I had been planning the site in my head for weeks, there was a lot of information floating around up there.
The first thing I did was write down everything that came to mind about the site I wanted to build. I didn't concern myself with spelling, logic, grammar, etc. I just let it flow. Several pages later I had a whole lot of ideas, goals and information to sort out.
Next, I went through and cleaned it up a bit. I completed the sentences that initially came out as a scribbled thought, I rewrote the things that I could barely read, and so on.
Then, I drew out a "spider chart". I remember doing these in school. It's where you start with a circle in the middle of the page, in which you write the central thought/idea to be worked out. In this case, it was "Website/Directory of Wholesale Suppliers". Next I drew lines from this central idea to some empty circles. I then wrote in each of those circles what major things I wanted to do/convey through the site. From each of those circles I drew more lines to even more circles. In those I wrote things that went with the thought it stemmed from. I continued until the page was full of lines and circles and, lo and behold, the beginning stages of a structure for all that information.
Because I had done the "brainstorming" exercise first I was able to more clearly realize what it was I wanted to attain. When it came time to make the spider chart I had everything I needed to fill in all those circles.
After that, I just took each group of items and further developed them. Each of the initial circles became major pages in the site and the sub-circles became branches off those pages. Sure, I reworked my diagram several times but this gave me the start I needed to organize all those ideas I had in my head.
I hope this helps someone! Best of luck to you!
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