Navigation - Make it Easy to Get Around

Am I Still Here?

Web surfers like consistency across a Website. If a visitor clicks on a link and is transported to a page that looks totally different from the previous one, s/he is confused and asks "Am I still on the same site? Or have I been transported to a different one?"

An excellent navigation system involves retaining a consistent look-and-feel across a Website. The constancy reinforces the fact that the linked page is a part of the same site.

Constructing your navigation aids

One of the challenges of website design is to integrate your navigational system into the overall schema of your site's image and brand. There are many ways to create your navigation aids.

Text only: Words are used to describe a link

Images only: A small graphic explains the link

Text with Images: Both words and a graphic are used as a link

Drop down menus: Clicking on it brings up a list of options to select from

Dynamically generated pages: Uses scripts to pull up pages from a database

By a judicious use of one or many of these elements, it is possible to design an effective and integrated navigation system for any Website.

Some general principles of constructing navigation aids

Text Links

• use unambiguous link titles
• try to have links of consistent length
• avoid using jargon or slang in link titles
• make sure the link text is clearly distinguishable as a link

Image Links

• ensure small image sizes to minimize page download times
• graphics must be intuitive or clearly descriptive of the link
• combining text with image links improves clarity
• always use ALT tags to benefit visitors who surf with images off

Drop Down Menus

• are useful to help conserve save space on a Webpage
• need some programming expertise to set up
• may not be accessible to surfers who use older browsers

Webpage Design Elements for Navigation Tools

As your Website grows and develops, newer sections will be added over time. Including them in the navigation bars would mean replacing data on multiple files.

Two methods to minimize this problem are:

1. using "Frames" on your Website, with one frame containing only the navigation bars


2. using "Server Side Includes" for the navigation elements

With either of these techniques you can make changes to just one file and have the changes reflected across all sections of your site.

Don't just deliver: Over-deliver

So your Website has all of these points covered. You have an excellent navigation system. Congratulations.

But it isn't time to relax yet. For any number of reasons, users may not be overjoyed with your navigation tools. So focus on delivering extra value to your users. Create an SNS - an acronym for the Supplementary Navigation System.

As the name might imply, the SNS includes other navigation tools like:

• Search Engines
• Table of Contents
• Site Map Indexes

Search Engines

Everyone has heard of the giant Search Engines like HotBot and AltaVista that list sites from all over the Web. It is also possible to have a Search Engine only for content on your site. A visitor can use that search engine to try and find material that s/he could not easily access using the navigation tools.

Table of Contents

By listing out all major segments of your site, a table of contents makes it much simpler for a visitor to drill down directly to a specific topic or category rapidly.

Site Map Indexes

A variation of the Table of Contents listing, a site map index is created by going down deep into the different forms of content on the site. The top 30 to 60 interest areas are then listed with links to the appropriate content.

Test Your Navigation System

Never assume that your navigation system is perfect. While it may appear intuitive and clear to you, it may still leave a site visitor totally fogged.

Put it to the test.

How extensively you test will depend upon your site's size and extent. If you run a small hobby-site, getting a few friends and family members to help test it might be enough. For the larger professional sites, pilot project testing is a serious undertaking.

It is best to actually watch your trial users as they navigate around your site. See how they react to your site's layout. Do they identify the navigation aids easily? Do they know what to do to get around the site? Give them a target - say, to get to a particular page or article. Then see how quickly and easily they can get there.

Take notes. Ask for feedback. Act on suggestions to improve your navigation aids. Tweak, test, re-tweak and re-test.

Until finally your site is a joy to get around!