FREE Website Planning Template
Master website planning project plan timelines with our intuitive website planning Gantt chart template.
Start with template
Master website planning project plan timelines with our intuitive website planning Gantt chart template.
Start with templateGet started with our Website Planning Template in seconds while skipping the hassle involved with Excel or Google Sheets.
No project management experience? No problem. Tom's Planner offers a user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface that's intuitive and easy to learn. Creating Gantt charts is a breeze, saving you time and effort. Compare that to the time-consuming, frustrating, manual formatting-intensive process of building a Gantt chart in Excel or Google Sheets.
Good luck figuring out how to make a Gantt chart work in Excel or Google Sheets. Excel’s user manual weighs in at a hefty 500+ pages. It takes just five minutes with Tom’s Planner to start planning your first real project plan.
Tom's Planner offers powerful options for sharing and collaborating on Gantt charts, including public links, PDF exports, and team access with customizable permission levels. It’s never been easier to communicate or ensure everyone’s on the same page. Compare that to Excel, where sharing and collaboration mean jumping through hoop after hoop and dealing with confusion and chaos.
Getting your project off the ground is as easy as 1-2-3.
Click the 'start with template’ button to open the Website Planning Template.
Register for a free account and watch a short video on using Tom’s Planner. The account is free forever, with no strings attached.
You’re all set to use the Gantt chart template. Need additional help? Our AI assistant can create a custom Gantt chart Website Planning Template based on your project description.
A website is essential for any business hoping to see success today. However, you can’t just toss up a website and start generating traffic and sales. Great websites are planned, not thrown together. A lot goes into the planning process before the first line of code is implemented.
A website planning template helps ensure that you have everything to make your website both functional and aesthetically pleasing while supporting your brand. You’ll find plenty of options out there, ranging from barebones options to the most robust website planning template in Excel. However, it’s probably best to skip the data entry-oriented choices. Instead, opt for a website development Gantt chart.
Let’s face it. Excel, Google Sheets, and even Microsoft Word all have their places. Website planning doesn’t fit there, however. You need a tailor-made tool that makes planning your website, creating timelines, assigning tasks, and setting priorities simple and easy.
A Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner ensures that you can accurately plan your website and flesh everything out before development starts. That’s as true for pre-website planning as it is for laying out user flows, plotting design layouts, vetting site infrastructure plans, and deciding how you’ll market and promote your site.
In the website design process, a detailed plan is critical during many stages. Some of the most common times you’ll need to use a website planning template include the following:
Long before you decide on thematic or navigation-related elements, you’ll need to plan your objectives and goals. These should connect with both your business objectives and your marketing capabilities.
In addition to designing aesthetic elements, you’ll need to plan for usability and flow. This includes things like navigation style, color choices, layout/format, and even the URLs included in your site map.
Website design is a resource-intensive process. You’ll need to use a website development Gantt chart to allocate and manage resources across the entire project. Make sure to tie resource allocation to specific development phases and communicate this information with stakeholders by sharing the template.
Using a Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner can streamline your website development process and help improve both the accuracy and the quality of your finished results.
Website design requires a wide range of people and teams. Some of those who will need to use a website planning template include the following:
The design and development team will certainly need to use a website planning template. Even if you’re working with an outside agency, the team responsible for liaising with the agency should use a template and share it with the designers.
Building a website doesn’t guarantee visitors. You’ll need a strategy that dictates how you’ll market and promote it. Your marketing team will need to use a website planning template so they can dovetail their efforts with the designers.
A wide range of other stakeholders will need access to your website planning template. This may include executives, product development teams, copywriters, and more.
A Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner allows you to share access with all stakeholders so everyone stays on the same page.
Start with templateReduce the chances that you’ll encounter major issues with your website design project by avoiding these three pitfalls:
Perhaps the single most common mistake in website development projects is failing to plan adequately. You cannot simply throw up a website and see instant traffic. Failure to plan can lead to overspending, low-quality designs, and a website that just doesn’t wow your visitors.
Solution:Begin planning your website well in advance of the project and make sure to involve all stakeholders.
Does your website design idea comply with ADA requirements? If not, you could be in for a major overhaul, increasing your costs and hassle.
Solution:Understand accessibility best practices, as well as the rules that apply to your site’s design.
It’s all too easy to put up a cookie-cutter website these days. However, that can lead to confusion for your visitors if the site doesn’t mirror your brand.
Solution:Skip the cookie-cutter design options and go with a custom site design that’s unique to your business.
Effectively using a website planning template can help you avoid these three pitfalls and create an effective, evocative website.
Website planning template content will vary based on a wide range of factors, including the type of site, the business in question, and more. Many businesses also modify their templates or create new ones for each phase of website development. Some of the most common things to plan in a website development Gantt chart include the following:
Yes, a finished website is the goal, but what will that enable? What do you hope to achieve with your site? How will the website help you reach business objectives? What are the initial and eventual objectives for the site? That might include traffic/lead generation, boosting brand awareness, generating authority for your brand, or engaging existing customers.
No business operates in a complete vacuum. What are your competitors doing online? What do their websites look like? How well do they function? How engaging is the user experience? Define what your competitors are doing right and wrong and let that inform your design decisions.
Every website design project requires a budget. A website planning Gantt chart lets you assign tasks relevant to expenses and budgeting to help determine not just how much you have to spend, but whether the spending is supporting your goals.
What do your users expect in terms of the experience your site delivers? What about the content your site offers? Planning your information architecture helps ensure that you’re delivering the best user experience and living up to visitor expectations.
A website development Gantt chart like Tom’s Planner makes it easier to create custom timelines, assign tasks, and ensure that your website delivers on its promise.
Websites aren’t static. They must be updated pretty regularly, particularly if they weren’t designed with the future in mind. You can avoid some of this by planning effectively in advance.
The most successful projects depend on clear, accurate communication. Use a website planning template to foster better communication between stakeholders involved in your site design.
Developing a website is a big project. Break it up into smaller tasks to help ensure you’re able to meet key deadlines and milestones. Smaller chunks also help create a sense of momentum and achievement for your development team.
Regular progress reviews help ensure that you’re progressing accurately, reduce the need for revisions, and keep your teams involved and engaged.
Excel | Tom's Planner | |
---|---|---|
Cost | License required | Free version available |
Learning curve | Hours | Minutes |
Create your first Gantt chart | Hours | Minutes |
Making an update in your chart | Several minutes | Seconds (drag & drop) |
Sharing charts with others | At some point you will save and email a file titled: version_4_def_usethisversion_reallyfinal.xlsx | Online, one source of truth, always up to date, with no confusion |
Look & Feel | Messy | Clean, polished and professional |
Dependencies | ![]() |
![]() |
Filtering | ![]() |
![]() |
Zoom in/out | ![]() |
![]() |
Automatic Legend | ![]() |
![]() |
AI-assist | ![]() |
Let our AI assist do the work for you |
Export to image or pdf | Requires workarounds to export | One mouse click |