Navigation 101

Don't re-invent the wheel!

It's a convention on the Internet to do it this way: Put your main website links across the top of the website, under your main banner. Or you can put them on the side. After that, put the sub-links to pages inside those main categories on the side, or have them appear right under the main navigation at the top.

Great resource: Steve Krug's highly readable book, "Don't Make Me Think." The name says it all! On the Internet, your visitors don't need to be confused about where to click next! Make it simple. Stick to conventions. Don't get cute! This is our mantra here at StepRock. We DO NOT - EVER - get cute with the navigation. Make it simple. Make it look nice, but make it simple.

Along those lines: Down with Mystery Meat Navigation! If you'll read our text on Google Optimization, this will become even more important. The classic site-bashing web site webpagesthatsuck.com presents the advice to get rid of what they call “Mystery Meat” navigation. That is, buttons that don't look like buttons, or that can't really be read until you roll over them. Remember Krug: don't make them think! People will hang around your website clicking on whatever catches their interest. You've got to make sure the navigation makes sense and that it's obvious where you want them to go next.

More great advice from Krug: Don't forget the bread crumbs. That's the little bit of guidance you find at the top of some websites. It looks like this: Home > Resources > Web Design > Overview. That tells the visitor where they are deep in the bowels of your sprawling website. They should never feel lost. They should have directions on where they are and a handy little button to go right back to the home page if they want to. (P.S. The bread crumb links are best if they can be clicked.)

StepRock Super Tip: Make just about everything clickable! Pictures, logos, everything!

StepRock Media Uses Pro software:

• Macromedia DreamWeaver
• Adobe PhotoShop
• Adobe InDesign