Web Design Vector Icons

Website Design: Improve your Navigation

There are billions of different web pages floating around the Internet and unless you Google towing capacity and store the URL of each page of each site, there is no way to survive out there without some help.

Fortunately, we do not have to wander around the Web feeling our way like a zombie in a maze. Navigation is the foundation of any web site, and always has. Although it is a necessity web design, has become a sort of afterthought for many designers, who focus on trying to achieve with an intelligent content.

Navigation is still the most essential aspect of the construction work, and the average of the wonders of modern technology that can guide visitors around of place in a number of innovative ways to make their online experiences all the richer and more rewarding.

What is the point of sailing?

For the benefit of anyone who arrives on Earth in the final minutes, the basic principle of the navigation of the site is to help visitors find their way around your Web site with links to all pages. The most common reasons that it is imperative that your site is easy to navigate and your guests will soon have to withdraw from the game to new pastures.

The home page of a website, is where visitors form their impressions of the whole design, and its importance is much greater than that of the other pages that make up the site. The same theory applies to site navigation mechanism, that is, if you can convince new visitors to give the pace of your homepage to one of your secondary pages, the chances of wanting to take cognizance of other goodies on your site increase no end.

Proper site navigation should give the visitor a sense of "place" within the site. should help maintain consistency throughout the site, although establishing a kind of brand. It is important to deepen anyone through your site knows how to get back to the starting point, otherwise it is likely to flee in frustration.

Its navigation system should also encourage the user to explore other areas of the site, suggesting related sites of interest, and challenge their minds to note that links to other dark places online that interest them. Ultimately, your main priority when designing navigation is place to ensure that the user does not have to work hard to find what you're offering.

Traditional Navigation

Back in the old days, browsing the Web was a completely different experience than you can find today. We all know that advances in Web design software have made it easy to create beautiful pages with flashy graphics and content of style, but the navigation of the site has also evolved considerably.

In the nineties, when the web was starting to take shape, the core site navigation device was the link text of confidence, and a blue underlined part the text was his ticket to a world of information. Once done, the text link to turn purple (or sometimes red) to indicate that it was a corner of the Web had already explored, and this became something that even newcomers to the Net could get around the head from the beginning. Of course, these conventions still apply today, even format a little more 'glam'.

A few years ago, the closest you have come to a graphical interface a site would be a series of text links in box at the top of the page to run down the side. Sometimes these would be accompanied by hideous animated G11 or clipart that vaguely represented the part of the site link above ('have' would be a home, contact us, "a phone, "purchase" would be a stack of coins, etc).

The fact that these navigation systems seem a bit early on this side of the millennium, does not mean
were not effective, and which are still used in some form in those days. Site Map, for example, was one of the first devices to appear, and still represents probably the fastest way to find your way around large sites. In general, however, the exploration of a set of pages in 2003 is an experience much richer than it was seven years ago. The emergence of modern WYSIWYG design applications and advances in technology have graphics manipulation fact that Web developers can get more imaginative with their navigation bars in order to achieve true ease of use.

Navigation musts

If you wander over to any self-respecting web site and look carefully at how it was put together, you will notice that all the big sites follow same navigation methods ordered a navigation bar to the effect with a set of bandwidth easy text links somewhere on the page. But creative you think you are, or however much you want to throw spit in the face of convention, it is useless trying to fight against these methods. They work and always work and users are unlikely to stay if you do not get what they are expecting.

text links or embedded links, are the most basic form of navigation and represent a clear and instant method of accessing the pages of a site. These are usually arranged as a series of words underlined in the top of a page or a list running down the side.

Another key device in the search for an easy way online is 'breadcrumb' navigation. Routes using HTML links, can show the path from the homepage of the current page, helping the visitor to move up and down the tree Menu more efficiently, especially on larger sites, heavy page.

In order to give the user the experience richer, more diverse surf, it is prudent to slap on as many related links, within reason, as can be discovered. The key here is to simply avoid using the obvious links, and add references a darker, off-site wall is likely to excite his readers, adding greater value to your site in the process.

It is also important that the position of navigation in a place where the user expects to be, and where not to interfere in the content of your site. Many web designers for placement links in the top of a Web page, in addition to the left or right, and bottom of each page in case. Basically, you must ensure that visitors are never more than one rotation of the scroll wheel off the page. Make sure that they adhere to the conventions of color too Blue is generally recognized as the standard for a text link, purple or red that is used to indicate a page has been accessed by the browser.

New methods

While these traditional navigation principles should still be foremost in your mind when designing pages, there are a number trendy new devices kicking around town also worth thinking about.

Let us first consider image maps, a navigation tool that has the potential to be something very special, but invariably becomes a confusing mess. The key to a viable image map is choose your image carefully. Sure that is something that lends itself to a logic slices and divided into parts, rather than a generic piece of art without limits defined by that. if you can afford do, buy the picture in a picture agency before cutting up in Image Ready (or a cheaper alternative, such as Paint Shop Pro) and export it to your Web editor to apply transfers.

If the images are not your bag, or if you are willing to avoid sailing of bandwidth heavy, you might want to consider exploring DHTML route or even the implementation of JavaScript drop-down menus. While these have been around for a few years, are still required by software developers as a means of adding dynamic navigation. Add DHTML menu is now much easier than it once was, and there are plenty of software around that will the work for you without you having to lift a brain cell.

However, when it comes to designing websites in the first century, you not find many tools for Flash work. Macromedia dear vector graphics application houses all the functionality you need to produce slick, easy to follow, fast loading navigation. The program lets you create virtually any type of dynamic navigation system you can imagine, from icons style and pop-up flash buttons and dropdown menus. Flash is also ideal to generate action and animation within a navigation bar to user involvement and promote interactivity.

Ironically, too much reliance on these swanky new navigation methods can lead to your site each time a visitor overwhelming, and a spree of weird and wonderful menus useless to anyone. If you intend to use these devices as Flash or JavaScript menus, always make sure that this is not the only form of navigation, and there are text links for those who do not have the right plug in so the accessibility is what everyone should strive for these days, you should always make sure to include ALT tags on images that include in their navigation to meet anyone who uses a screen reader and make sure create a text-only version as well.

If you really want to know if your site is really useful, the best idea is to free a group of friends and have treated to navigate it. Come up with a list of things that a user may want to do on the site, then observe your guinea pigs as they try to access the information. Soon learn that it pays to keep things simple and not try anything too elaborate the design of navigation. That does not mean it can not be original, and the Advances in creative applications such as Flash, Web page navigation can only get more enjoyable.

About the Author

Magnetic Code is a website design service specialising in SEO and e-commerce for small businesses. To see one of their portfolio sites, visit this review of Fat Loss 4 Idiots on expertfound.com, or this page on how to learn spanish with Rocket Spanish.

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