In the previous lesson, I learned about the importance of having a navigation menu. Today, was all about the site layout, and (again) making sure visitors don’t get lost trying to find the information they need
All sites have a home site, and then some will have their sites split into separate categories like “About Us”, “Contact Us”, “News”, “Products” etc. The further the viewer dives the more information they’re gathering.
Sometimes, search engines will take visitors to another area in the site that isn’t the home page, so it’s important to have page titles that show in the tabs. Sometimes, when visitors have multiple tabs open in the browser, the page title will get cut short so it’s important to lead with the most important information and keep it under 64 characters. Also, run it in the reverse of bread crumbs. Example: instead of Hansel and Petal > Weddings > Bridal Bouquets, lead with was is most relevant to the page like: Bridal Bouquets | Weddings | Hansel and Petal.
Ultimate, having a website is about getting information to your visitors.
There are three main ways to display information:
Which style you choose depends entirely on the information you’re trying to get across.
A reason to not split this information into Sequential pages or Splitting is to prevent confusion and if this information is more than likely to be printed. Wikipedia is a good example of using the scrolling display. In this case, use lots of subheadings to keep information uncluttered, and use in-page links so visitors can quickly jump to the content they’re interested in.
Reasons to split information is if it’s an article, a photo gallery, and/or has step-by-step instructions.
If you use the Sequential or Splitting displays, consider uploading a PDF or “Printer Friendly” version of the information so that visitors can print if they want.
Leslie Nation 