Website Navigation Tips

Websites serve as a means of communication between the creator and his visitors. A lot of information can be gathered by the general public just by viewing websites. Businesses gain extra income from advertisements they place on websites. However, the success of a website is not only determined by its content, but by the number of people that come and visit it. If your site contains the best and most useful information around, but it is hard to navigate through, then your message will not be relayed to your viewer.

If you own a business, and have decided to use a website as a means of promoting it, keep in mind how much the site can say about your business. Create a website that is easy to read, with a clear and concise message, and attractive-enough elements to entice visitors to know more about.

When laying out the content, make sure your site and all the pages within it are linked together. From your homepage, make sure links to connecting pages are placed. Whenever a person goes to a connecting page, add a button that will revert back the visitor to the homepage. If your pages have long texts that need to be scrolled down, place a link the returns the user back to the top. Don’t be afraid to put “back” and “next” links so a visitor can navigate to and from a page, in case he needs to read something he missed.

Avoid placing frames for your website. Although a frame helps delineate portions of a website, many browsers have trouble loading them. Also, avoid using scroll left and right buttons for your site, scroll down buttons are better. Instead of using drop down menus, you can create an individual link for the visitor to see each sub-category.

In terms of the style of your website, be consistent with the color and font schemes. This way, a reader will not be confused about what he’s looking at and will know that he is still in the same site. If you’ve decided to place navigation links at the top or side of the page, make sure they are placed in the same location when another page appears. Also, you can place the navigation buttons at the bottom of every page, along with your email and contact details. Remember to use simple fonts when creating hyperlinks, so a viewer can easily distinguish them.

Simpler is better. Do not use gaudy font styles or flashy background colors. A visitor can get distracted and soon lose interest from your site content. If you’ve decided to place advertisements on your site, place them in specific locations only, and not on the entire page. Do not create pop-up windows whenever a visitor clicks a link on your site. This is annoying to many, and is tedious to close when too many are opened.

Create a table of contents so your visitors can have an overview of what your site contains, without having to scroll through all pages. Make sure all the pages and links are working properly. Do not add a link that will lead to a dead end.

Remember, your website will tell the public a great deal about you and your business. Creating it with an easy-to-navigate scheme helps both you and your visitors.
 

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