How to Design an Easy-to-Navigate
User Friendly Web Site
by Suzanne Engels, Information Architect
Does your website have more than 10 pages? Is it cluttered with too many links on the home page? Does it take more than "3 clicks" to find information?
Organizing a clean, easy-to-navigate website can be very challenging. Well designed sites give customers a pleasant experience, keeps them on your site and keeps them coming back. You know what this means - they'll buy more stuff.
Site models or blueprints (information architecture) are key to developing a user friendly web site or set of web sites (including Facebook, blogs, online stores, etc.) and makes them easy-to-navigate.
More benefits - search engines love good navigation - by improving your site's labels (links, headings and page titles), you'll increase your search engine ranking.
Another benefit - you will save on site updates and future costs. Why? Because a site model provides a plan for future expansion as your business grows, anticipating changes such as -
- Features you need/want later on hold due to budgetary constraints
- Adding future products and services
- Expanding the geographical sales region
- Attracting new target markets
Site Models are your plan, your guide, saving you time and money!
Site models might include -
- Site model diagrams for your site(s) and major site sections
- Labeling system for navigation and headings
- Description of the content & intent of each site & each high level site section
- Dynamic modeling of interactions
Other Information Architecture tools include -
- Wireframes, Prototypes & Blueprints
- Work Flows & Activity Diagrams
- State Machines
- User Profiles
- Use Cases and Functional Specifications
The practice of information architecture produces easy-to-navigate sites, better search rankings, lower costs & happy customers.
