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Web Design Articles
How to Create an Effective Web Site Navigation Structure -Part 2
Copyright 2002 Herman Drost
Searching for information on the Web has recently become like a mine field. You
find the site you want, only to be greeted by pop-ups when you enter, pop-ups
when you are on the site and pop-ups when you leave. Other sites use a flash
introduction, make you wait several minutes (which feels like hours), until the
page finishes loading. Heck, you just want to find the information as swiftly as
possible without having to watch out for these mine fields.
A fast and simple navigation structure is essential for a successful web site.
Visitors must have a good experience at your site, if you want them to return.
How to Design Your Navigation Structure 1. Sketching it out. Part 1 of this
article (www.isitebuild.com/navigation), discussed the different navigation
styles and a navigation action plan. Now let’s begin sketching out your site.
Take one sheet of paper, draw a circle in the middle – this is the subject of
your homepage. From there, draw branches, which have more ideas about your
topic. If any topics are related in a more definitive way, create another branch
off the current idea branch. Within minutes, you will see your web site develop
into a dynamic sketch. You might find that a standard sheet of paper is not
enough to contain all your thoughts. Use more paper, create more branches, and
keep the ideas flowing.
Once you have sketched out your site, use separate sheets of paper for each web
page. Make sure you define a heading for each page and decide how it links to
the other pages. This exercise will help you to decide how you want visitors to
navigate through your web site.
2. What navigation style to use Decide on which navigation style you will use.
This could be a navigation bar across the top, a navigation bar on the left (the
two most common styles), or an image map (an image divided into separate links
to other pages).
If you use graphical icons or other graphics instead of text, then include the
text links elsewhere on your site. This is because some people browse with their
graphics turned off and this technique allows them to still see and use the
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3. What colors should you use? If you have a dark background, with dark
graphical icons or text, your links will be invisible. When using rollovers
(links that change color when you move the mouse over them), be careful that the
color of the changed link will not disappear, in case your visitor wishes to
return to that link.
4. Navigation alignment Some sites have the navigation icons or text links lined
up against the side or top of the page. Leave an equal amount of space on either
side of your navigational links and make sure they are aligned with each other.
5. Repetition and consistency If the visitor has to search for the buttons on
every page, or if the links have different words, techniques or icons, they get
annoyed. Don’t you? Navigation elements from page to page should be repeated
and consistent throughout your site. If a visitor sees a navigation system on
every page, it will add to familiarity and orientation.
6. Check your links Have you ever followed a navigation link, only to find you
can’t get back to the home page? You may have clicked on a link, only to get a
page error – the page does not exist! Particularly if you have linked to a web
site outside of your own. With time that site may have disappeared or changed
its address.
Make it easy for your visitor to find their way around your site, by testing out
where your links go and that each of them work. You should do this periodically
to avoid the problem of dead or broken links.
7. Testing your navigation structure You’re overjoyed that your site is
finally finished, so you tell all your friends and family about it. They
politely say it is great, but ask you what it is about and how can they find
their way around.
Once completed, you need to step back (go outside of the box you have been in)
and get others to navigate your site – preferably your Grandmother or someone
that has never been on the Net. This is called a usability test. If they have no
problem to discern the purpose of your site and can navigate it with ease, you
are ready to publish it for all the world to see.
Design your navigation structure with the visitor in mind. Eliminate any
obstacles (minefields) that will annoy and frustrate them, causing them to leave
and never wish to return. If you make it easy for them to find the information
they seek, you will gain many happy customers.
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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of http://www.iSiteBuild.com
Affordable Web Site Design and Low
Cost Web Hosting
Subscribe to his “Marketing Tips” newsletter for more original
articles. subscribe@isitebuild.com.
You can read more
of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles
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Article reproduced with kind permission from Herman Drost
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