Have you ever visited a website where you keep clicking on
links, hoping you are going to find that information you're
looking for, only to be led to more pages of links. It gets
frustrating and visitors often leave without finding what
they were looking for. That is not good for you our your
visitor. The answer is to have a clean, simple website navigation
scheme that is as clear and obvious as possible.
There are several schools of thought on the best website
navigational design. I don't believe there is any one ''best''
design; Your navigation model depends on your website and
its content and is often a combination of two or more designs.
We will examine three different website navigation methods
and see how they work. They are:
Linear navigation is used for a website where you
want the visitor to go from one step to another in a particular
order. This is usually used within a website but seldom as
a stand alone design. The idea here is that the visitor follows
the pages in a predefined order or sequence that you determine.
This is particularly usefull for tutorials. But, it also
has many other uses.
The database or grid design of website navigation
is made up of multiple main divisions and each division is
linked to its own database. This type of navigation can be
used effectively when large amounts of data are required
in the website design. With database navigation the visitor
begins by selecting the main heading that best serves their
purpose. From there they can drill down deeper and deeper
into the selected database.
The hierarchical design goes from the general to
the specific; from a home page to main sections to subsections
and databases. A visitor could easily go from the home page
to other areas of the website and back again. The goal of
any hierarchical navigational system is to offer the user
a clear and simple way to access all pages in a site.
Note: you don't want to put a direct link to everything
on your website on any single page. Your website links should
progress through several levels branching out as they go.
Too many links to choose from and your visitors often won't
know what to click on.
As I said earlier, many websites are a combination of navigational
models and you will have to determine which method works
best for your web pages. It is important to have a clear
idea of your navigational system before you organize your
website. Help your visitors find the information they need
with the least number of clicks. This will also serve you
in creating your site theme.
Website Theme
To enhance navigation every website should have some type
of theme - a way of giving your site an identifying look.
This can be through the use of a unique logo, a particular
color combination or a recognizable idea such as gardening
or pets. Let's take a look at the theme of the website.
If you have chosen a title for your website or business,
think about what theme would compliment that title. Let your
imagination take over here and think of several ideas and
write them down. If you don't have a title or name chosen,
think of the content, graphics and/or photos you're going
to include on your site. Deciding on a theme might help you
come up with a unique name.
A theme can be obvious . . . such as a greenhouse using
gardening tools, flowers, etc. Or it can be a metaphor. For
example, a website about babies could also use a ''gardening''
theme. The metaphors of seedlings, growth, nurturing, feeding
and caring for tender plants would translate very well. When
the theme is a particular color or color combination, the
links, buttons and graphics should all reflect that color
theme. If a logo is used as the theme, that logo should be
incorporated on every page.
What you are doing, with a theme, is providing cohesiveness
to your site - letting visitors know they are still in the
same place no matter what section they are viewing. Web users
don't like the feeling of being ''lost'' and will leave a
site if they feel they don't know where they are or how to
find information. Combing your theme and navigation scheme
is the way professional webmasters create their sites. You
should too!
Gene DeFazzio is the author and webmaster of the Rocketface® Workshop
http://www.rocketface.com/.
