Making your site easier to navigate

Simple navigation is key.

Navigation is important for users and search engines.

[Optimum navigation example layout]

Making the navigation of a website as simple as possible, can be very important, in helping users effectively finding the content they want. Another key aspect of this is helping search engines understand what you think is important and what each page's role is within the bigger picture of your website. Another good idea is to plan out the navigation of your homepage, using your homepage as an anchor. All site have a home page, which is generally the main page, and the most visited. This usually makes the homepage the starting place of navigation, like the center of the spiders web. Depending on the size of your site, navigation can take several forms and thinking of how users will get from one page, to another page is a good idea. If you have a large enough site, thinking about splitting your different product/services into multiple category and subcategory pages would be a good way to go. Alternatively if you have fewer pages perhaps making different pages which become more specific the deeper you go is a good idea. (For example, main page -> toyota cars -> toyota corolla cars.)

Use "breadcrumb lists"

A breadcrumb list id a row of links which are at the top of the page, allowing users navigate back to previous pages more easily. Usually these breadcrumbs navigate from left to right, having the home page first and the current page last. These also help users know where they are in relation to the home page, helping them quote the pages and get to it easier next time needed. Below is an example of what "breadcrumbs look like, the blue text indicating how the earlier pages are internal links to earlier pages. Simple but effective.

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Alan's Used Autos>Cars> Volkswagen >Golf>2001

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Additional tips to better site navigation:

• Make the navigation from general content to more specific content as flowing and simple as possible. The easier and simpler it is the better users will enjoy using your site.
• Try making navigation mostly text links. What I mean is, instead of having drop down lists or animations, use simple text that can help users and search engines alike know what they are navigating to before they do.
• Avoid making your navigation too complex. For instance, linking each page to every other page on your site is unnecessary and complicates things. Also, don't make navigation too lengthy by needing 20 clicks to get to a less specific content page. This just deters users from using your site.

Thanks again for reading guys, more to come tomorrow.

- Conor.