Website Navigation


If a website is designed correctly, it is entirely possible that a search engine may land a person inside the website, instead of on the home page. Visitors will not always enter via the front door. If your navigation and website structure is set up correctly, this poses no problem. If someone uses a search engine to find a local restaurant and finds your restaurant page, that is great, as long as there is a way to get from your restaurant page to all the other pages on your website. This sounds logical but takes thought when designing an accessible and navigable website. Even small simple websites need to perform in this way.

A "one-way valve" page is created when a page provides no way to get back to the rest of the website. It sounds obvious, but ICT Total Solution have seen many websites with such pages. They are easy to identify, simply look for any page that has no or few links back to the main website. Also, one-way valve pages can be caused by the use of javascript popup windows or frames so make sure you read up on why it is not best practice to use frames.


Advice

  • If you are having a new website built, make sure your designer has navigation on every page and does not use frames.

  • If you have an existing website that has pages with no navigation links on them, have them put on as soon as possible.


  • If you are looking for a new designer or website promotion specialist, examine the websites in their portfolio. If you spot any pages that lack navigation links, keep looking for someone that understands the basics of website design a little better

 

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