Web Site Navigation is Critical For a Good User Experience.
What do you do on a site that is difficult to navigate ? Probably just move on ! Users need to be able to find all that you have to offer, without difficulty. Keep it simple, and be consistent. Plan a simple strategy to tie everything to the Home page. Place all your main topics in the main menu, with the sub-categories in drop down menus or pop up windows.
When designing your Web Menu Template, it is a good idea to write all of your main topics on a separate piece of paper, then write all of the related topics on their respective sheets. You could lay them out on the table, anywhere with enough space. This will give you the freedom to move them around until you get a logical order. You may even find that some sub-topics will be better suited under another main subject. It is easy, at this stage, just to write it on the respective sheet.
You may have plenty of information already from any web business project planning or brain storm sessions you have done. Categorise your information or topics into a logical order. Try to build your site using a different page for each topic. This way your clients can browse through your site more easily. Later, you can direct them to relevant information from links within the page content, where you think necessary.
You could place links to the functional pages, like your contact info or your site map, in a footer menu. Yes, don't forget the site map. If all else fails, this is where your users will go. You could use a separate page menu for the Home page and contact page etc, like the mini menu here at http://www.ecommerce-site-builder.com.
Another way to plan your menu structure is to make your Home page the first main topic, with all the extra functional pages as its list of sub-menus. This is one of the most popular solutions. Just be sure that they are all accessible from every page.
This menu planning should give you enough information to start looking for an easy website template, a software solution, or maybe a place to build your page online. The information you have gathered will help you decide on the style of your design, or the type of template you choose, relevant to the amount of topics and menu headings you will need.
A small browser site template may only have 6 or 7 pages of information, where a larger site will need a more sophisticated menu structure.
Mal Huddleston from Ecommerce Site Builder has developed the free e-book, the Twelve Point Plan, an overview of the major steps required to build and promote an Ecommerce Web Site solution. Ecommerce Site Builder aims to educate you about ecommerce systems, show you tools that will help you, and investigate the main components required to make a successful web site. You will then make a more informed decision about the solution that best suits your needs. Copyright 2006 Ecommerce Site Builder