Site Layout

A logical and easy-to-follow navigation scheme is a critical element of a successful site. Two basic principles apply to all sites: Let the user see at a glance what your site has to offer, and let them get where they want to go easily, with a minimum of mouse clicks. See my previous WDVL article, Navigation 101, for advice on designing a navigation scheme. Depending on your business model, there may be a couple of special layout issues you want to keep in mind.

If your site is simply providing information, then the content is king. Organize the content in the most logical, consistent way you can, and include plenty of cross-references. The goal is simply to make it possible to get from any section to any other section with a minimum of page loads.

Long pages or short pages? Most sites that present large amounts of text information (FAQ lists, for example) put a lot of information on a single page, so the user must do a lot of scrolling. If such a page is well-designed, it will have lots of intra-page links to make things easier. I feel that this is the best way to do things, because it takes less time to load one big page than a lot of little pages. Also, if you need to refer back and forth to different sections, it's easier to jump around on the same page than to be continually loading new pages. Others don't agree, and prefer to break information up into shorter pages.

The academics may debate the point, but when it comes to ad-supported sites, they're all firmly in agreement: keep those pages short. Breaking a long article up into several sections means more page impressions, and more cash from advertisers. There are also other reasons for doing so. If different sections of a long article deal with slightly different topics, then they can be promoted separately to search engines, and can contain different on-site links to related material. This can mean - you guessed it - more page impressions.

For sites that get their revenue from advertising, many aspects of site design are influenced by the holy quest for more page views, from laying out pages to make room for top, bottom and sidebar ads to including lots of on-site cross-referencing links. But, as in so many other cases, there's a balance to be maintained here. If you make your users click through too many screens to get the information they're looking for, and stick ads in their faces at every opportunity, some of them will get fed up and not visit any more. Encouraging return visits is even more important than maximizing page views.

If selling ads is only a secondary site objective, then keep the ads firmly on the sidelines. Whatever you do, don't let ads get in the way of your main site goals. If the main purpose of your site is to sell or advertise your own products, then fast page loads and uncluttered pages will probably do more for your company in the long run than the tiny amount of cash you're likely to get from ads. A lot of beginners' sites suffer from this problem. Their pages are clogged and cluttered by low-class cost-per-click ad network banners that will probably end up netting them about 4 or 5 dollars per annum.

For e-commerce sites (that is, ones that take orders online), the overriding navigational issue is to funnel the sheep (excuse me, customers) to that order button. Have plenty of product information and other content, because that's what convinces people to buy, but when it's time to close the sale, don't slow them down. Ordering pages should be as few in number as possible, and all should be uncluttered and load fast. There should be a link to the ordering section on every single page. For more tips on converting window-shoppers into buyers, see my WDVL article, They're Lookin', but they ain't buyin'.

Designing Your Pages
Let your business model be your guide
Maintaining Your Site