Have you ever been to a website and been unable to find your way around? Perhaps you felt the information you wanted was there, but you didn’t know how to find it. That problem results from a lack of planning in website building. Navigation of your site cannot be overlooked, or people may find your site but be unable to find the information you have.
Create Menu from the Bottom Up
Many people start their website building backwards. They begin with major categories and then write out sub-topics for each of those larger subject areas. This type of website building often results in articles without good categories or oddly-named categories.
Instead, you should begin planning your website at the bottom. Write down the types of articles you want to include. Your initial brainstorming list may include article titles you would like to pursue or small topics you want covered. Once you have a comprehensive list to work with, you can begin to move your website building plan up a step.
Divide Into Categories
Take some time to consider what you have covered in the list you have written down. As you have a clearer idea of what you want to include, use index cards to jot down ideas in groupings. Use your intuition on most of them and jot down article topics or ideas that seem to work together.
You should begin to see a natural form taking shape as you work on your ideas. For a site on books, you may see that natural categories include book reviews, author profiles, and gift ideas. Try to get all of the article ideas and topics you have to fit into the list. If you find a few articles that do not fit, consider whether these articles actually belong on your site. Perhaps your website building plan needs to be tweaked a bit, or you may need to add other articles or exclude some. While it may be frustrating, you are better off finding out now that there are potential navigation problems with your site.
Name the Categories
Knowing how to identify the categories for your website building project is crucial. Many web entrepreneurs make some simple mistakes you can avoid. First do not use jargon on a site meant for beginners. Though veteran writers may understand terms like “clips” and “CV,” newer writers may not know those terms. Instead use more general terms, such as “finding work” or “portfolio” that represent the content and that are clear to newer visitors.
Avoid menu buttons or category titles that are too long. More than two words typically is more than is needed. Instead, try to condense what you are calling a topic to make the navigation easier to follow for new visitors to the site. If you have trouble, ask someone else to help you with topic titles. Sometimes, people not as entrenched in the content will have a clearer idea about what to call the category topics. Work through various category topics until you find something usable for each category you are considering.
