Website Navigation and Theme
By: Gene DeFazzio

It gets frustrating and visitors often leave without finding what they were looking for. That is not good for you our your visitor. The answer is to have a clean, simple website navigation scheme that is as clear and obvious as possible.

There are several schools of thought on the best website navigational design. I don't believe there is any one ''best'' design; Your navigation model depends on your website and its content and is often a combination of two or more designs.

We will examine three different website navigation methods and see how they work. They are:

Linear navigation is used for a website where you want the visitor to go from one step to another in a particular order. This is usually used within a website but seldom as a stand alone design. The idea here is that the visitor follows the pages in a predefined order or sequence that you determine. This is particularly usefull for tutorials. But, it also has many other uses.

The database or grid design of website navigation is made up of multiple main divisions and each division is linked to its own database. This type of navigation can be used effectively when large amounts of data are required in the website design. With database navigation the visitor begins by selecting the main heading that best serves their purpose. From there they can drill down deeper and deeper into the selected database.

The hierarchical navigation design goes from the general to the specific; from a home page to main sections to subsections and databases. A visitor could easily go from the home page to other areas of the website and back again. The goal of any hierarchical navigational system is to offer the user a clear and simple way to access all pages in a site.

Note: you don't want to put a direct link to everything on your website on any single page. Your website links should progress through several levels branching out as they go. Too many links to choose from and your visitors often won't know what to click on.

As I said earlier, many websites are a combination of navigational models and you will have to determine which method works best for your web pages. It is important to have a clear idea of your navigational system before you organize your website. Help your visitors find the information they need with the least number of clicks. This will also serve you in creating your site theme.

Website Theme

To enhance navigation every website should have some type of theme - a way of giving your site an identifying look. This can be through the use of a unique logo, a particular color combination or a recognizable idea such as gardening or pets. Let's take a look at the theme of the website.

If you have chosen a title for your website or business, think about what theme would compliment that title. Let your imagination take over here and think of several ideas and write them down. If you don't have a title or name chosen, think of the content, graphics and/or photos you're going to include on your site. Deciding on a theme might help you come up with a unique name.

A theme can be obvious . . . such as a greenhouse using gardening tools, flowers, etc. Or it can be a metaphor. For example, a website about babies could also use a ''gardening'' theme. The metaphors of seedlings, growth, nurturing, feeding and caring for tender plants would translate very well. When the theme is a particular color or color combination, the links, buttons and graphics should all reflect that color theme. If a logo is used as the theme, that logo should be incorporated on every page.

What you are doing, with a theme, is providing cohesiveness to your site - letting visitors know they are still in the same place no matter what section they are viewing. Web users don't like the feeling of being ''lost'' and will leave a site if they feel they don't know where they are or how to find information. Combing your theme and navigation scheme is the way professional webmasters create their sites. You should too!