EASY NAVIGATING.
Tools That Let Visitors Effortlessly Move About Your Site

A good navigational system on a web site makes finding information easier and lets visitors know exactly where they are. There are a variety of standard navigation tools you can sue to organize the links for your website. Below are a few such tools commonly used on many sites.

Vertical navigation bar - consists of a column on the left or right side of a page with links typically provided for the top page of a particular section and various other sections. These can be designed so that when a visitor is within a particular section, the vertical bar also displays the subheadings for that section. Using this design, the reader always knows which page he is on.

Link bar - typically a horizontal set of links at the top or bottom of a page.

Breadcrumbs - a system which displays a site's home page, section, and subsection as a trail of links at the top of a page. For example, if your site contains pages about your cat Fluffy, the breadcrumbs used to get to that page might display as:
Home > Pets > Cats > Fluffy. Typically, each word is a link to that particular page.

Image maps - graphics divided into different sections that serve as links to areas of your site. For example if you sell electronic products on your site, an image map might contain a graphic with a VCR, television and batteries. Clicking on the VCR would send a user to that particular section. Keep in mind though, that the image map represents the pages it links to. A pretty graphic is no substitute for useful information when someone is trying to navigate your site.

Site maps - if your site has more than 50 pages, consider including a site map, which is simply a page containing links to the main sections, subsections and possibly every page on your site.

Search engines - lets users search your entire site for specific information. You can also use a search engine for just particular sections. Designing a good search engine can be involved, but large sites will benefit from its usefulness.

Navigational tips

• Avoid "click here." Users are looking for information about links that interest them It is important that link text be informative and provides clues to what users will find by following a link. For example, our biggest and best 50% off sale ever is a better way to link than click here for 50% off sales.

• If you are using image icons for hyperlinks, including accompanying text links. Just because an icon is obvious to you, it won't be to everyone else. Using graphics for icons can be especially tricky.