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Navigational Options for Your Website: Choose Wisely
By Merle http://MCPromotionsPress.com (c) 2005

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 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 like 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
than you think.

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