"Navigational Options for Your Website: Choose Wisely"

By Merle http://MCPromotionsPress.com

So you've decided to it's time to revamp your
website's navigation, or maybe you're putting
together a new site and are trying to decide
the best navigational menu to use. Before you
choose one type over the other, you'll want to
consider the size of your site and your
anticipated growth, as the menu structure you
select may have to expand.

There are many types of navigation methods to
choose from. You must carefully consider the
layout of your site so you can choose the system
that will work best. You want to make it easy for
your visitors to find their way around and not
frustrate them in the process. You need to keep
it consistent across all pages of your site, with
some standards like the placement of your logo
(which is generally in the upper left hand corner
of your website) linking back to your home page.

1) Left Side Menu: Probably the most common
menus you'll find, with text or button
links running vertically down the left hand
side of the page. This generally works best
for small websites with a limited number of
pages.

2) Text Links at Bottom of Pages: Not a
complete navigation system on its own, but
always a good idea to complement your main
navigation. If you use Flash, it's always a
good idea to give the search engines an easy
way to spider your site -- and text menus
do just that. Your visitors will also
appreciate not having to scroll back up
to the top of the pages to make another
selection. Keep it small.

3) DHTML or JavaScript Menu: My favorite
and the most expandable of menu types.
Generally you'll have your main page topics
running horizontally across the top of the
page. When a user hovers over one of the
main topics a drop down will appear with
more menu options. The advantage to
this type of menu is that it's easy to add
new pages. You'll only need to create the
page then add the text links to the script.

Here are some software solutions:

Deluxe Menu
http://tinyurl.com/cubem

Java DropDown Menu
http://tinyurl.com/7v784

DHTML Menu
http://dhtml-menu.com/

4) JavaScript Pull Down Menu: If you're
cramped for space, then drop down
menus are sweet as they are so compact and
hardly take up any room. You can display a
lot of links in a small area. They look
like a small form boxes that display a main
option, but when you click on them a drop
down menu appears with all of the various
pages of your website.

Create your own, then copy and paste the
code:

Pull Down Menu:
http://tinyurl.com/bqasr

Drop Down Generator:
http://tinyurl.com/chbls

Javascript Menu Master:
http://www.harmonyhollow.net/jmm.shtml

5) Tabs Menu:  Looks file
folder tabs running across the top of your
pages horizontally. A good example
of this is at Amazon.com. You'll find an easy way
to create them at:

Dynamic Drive
http://tinyurl.com/97snu

The look of tabs can also be done using
Cascading Style Sheets. Check out:

http://tinyurl.com/adjpm

GRSites Menu Maker
http://tinyurl.com/axkvc

Apycom Software
http://tinyurl.com/7fv7t


6) Search Function: Many people overlook the
advantages of adding a simple search box
to their sites. Hurried visitors
can simply type in what they're looking
for and find it quickly without frustration.
If your website is rather large you might
want to consider adding this option, even if
you have a great navigation system.

You can download scripts and install them
on your server or use a third party service.

Google Search: http://google.com/searchcode.html
FreeFind: http://FreeFind.com
PicoSearch: http://PicoSearch.com

Site Search
http://cgi-world/sitesearch.html

Matt's Script Archive
http://scriptarchive.com

7) Site Map: If your site is rather large
you also may want to include a "site map."
Basically, it's a page on your website that
lists all of the pages on your site, complete
with text links. It gives users an overview
of your website's contents.

Make sure you include a link to
your site map from your main navigation. Search
engines love site maps as they make for
excellent "spider food" helping your site to
be indexed.

Site Map Creator Service:
http://freefind.com/create-sitemap.html

Likno
http://likno.com/sitemap.html

SiteMap Pro
http://sitemappro.com/

eXact Mapper Lite
http://tinyurl.com/8ojou

8) CSS Menus: Cascading Style Sheets have
made it possible to add an endless array of
navigational options to your website. There's no
bloat or lag in downtime, either. They allow
you to control the appearance and format of
your website separately from the webpage coding
itself, which makes them easy to update and
alter the look of your site whenever you like.

Vertical Navigation: http://tinyurl.com/9aol9
Cool Rollover Menu: http://tinyurl.com/6hlep
Stylish Menus: http://tinyurl.com/brga9
CSS Vault: http://tinyurl.com/857ba

Do yourself a favor and take a long hard look
at your website's navigation. Does it need an
update? Now that you know all of your options
there's no reason you can't create an exciting
navigational system that users will just love.
Don't underestimate the power of good navigation;
if not done correctly visitors will be reaching
for the exit button sooner then you think.
======================================

Merle Makes it EASY to Promote & Market
Your Website. Learn over 50 Secrets to
Increasing Your Traffic. To Download your
F-R-E-E Ebook go to http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com