Determining and naming the main sections of your website is important for developing your website navigation scheme. Each section should contain material grouped according to your visitor's needs. These sections should be sizable chunks of related information that can be easily explored.

Main sections

Main sections are exactly what the term implies. These are the prime headings or catagories that make-up your website.

For example, if you are creating a site for a garden center, you would want to make it easy for the visitor to find the right information. To do this you could break down the various areas of the website into main sections. The main sections might include:

Note: This will be the foundation for your navigation scheme

Think about your own website. What main sections do you think you'll need for your visitors? Write these down.

Website Navigation and Theme

Note: the main sections or divisions you choose will also become the sitemap or index. After you have divided your content into main sections, determine their order of importance. What will visitors want to know about first, second, etc. ( This will also determine the order of your index or sitemap.)

Beginners Guide to Sitemaps

Subsections

Not all main sections necessarily need to have subsections, but most will require a further breakdown of information. It really depends on the amount of content on your website. When designing a new website, keep in mind that the content will increase as you update and add information to the site. Build in room to expand as you determine your main and sub sections.

Website Subsections Diagram

Going back to our garden center site, the subsections under, for example, Vegetable Plants might be the type of plants available. . .or it might be categories of plants depending on the inventory. Under the Landscaping main section, you might find subsections relating to lawn care, tree trimming, etc. Think about how your site should be organized, decide on main section and subsection names and write notes.

How to Organize a Website

We have now established the home page, main sections and subsections of the website. They have been organized into order of importance and noted. This is the basic layout of your website.

How to Develop a Website Outline

Now it is time to take a closer look at navigation - how visitors will move about your site.