Operation Manual

Web Site Design and Construction 31
makes it a snap to create navigation bars (see below) that mirror your
site structure and help guide your visitors along those “main roads.”
Not only is the section/level model well-suited to most kinds of content
likely to end up on the Web, but it particularly lends itself to graphical
reinforcement (see “Navigation”). So there’s an excellent chance that
you, as the site designer, will be able to organize your content and
provide appropriate visual cues to prevent users from getting lost.
Remember, each screen should provide cues as to which section the
user is “in.”
The top-level pages—the Home page and the various sectional main
pages—are the key nodes in this structure. As a rule of thumb, keep the
number of child pages per section between four and eight. When in
doubt, increase the number of child pages before adding
“grandchildren” (i.e. creating a new sublevel). Studies have shown that
users prefer a few dense screens with many choices over thickly
branched structures that require more clicks to navigate.
No matter how simple your initial site concept, it needs to be clear to
you before you can make it clear to your users. Sketch out a diagram of
how you envision the various sections and levels. If you use one of the
templates, you’ll begin with one Home Page linking to half a dozen
other main pages, which may be at Level 2 or on the same (top) level as
the Home page. Make sure these sectional main pages are named
according to the content you’ll be offering.
Over time, you’ll be adding content. Single section pages will probably
evolve into parent pages, with content migrating to newly-added child
pages. You’ll be prepared for this growth if you’ve started out with a
clear site structure.