Site design and structure
The key to having a successful web site is making sure that it is well structured and organised. To do this, you need a clear idea of who will be using the web site and what the site is meant to achieve.
A well designed web site structure has:
- a logical structure
- clear labels
- consistent, intuitive navigation
To create a well structured web site you need to set goals - before you design the site or its structure.
User goals. It is important that you understand what your users want to achieve when they come to your site and that they understand how your site is organised.
Business goals. It is also important to consider what you and your organisation want to achieve - are there pages or sections of your site that you need to promote?
The web design team has produced an informative page with information about writing for the web that can help you further your understanding of the complexities involved in the creation of even a 'simple' page.
The web information sheets provide some more detail about goals and objectives in site design that you should consider when creating a new site (or redesigning an old one!)
Naming sections of your web site
Web site section names should be:
Clear
Site section names should clearly and accurately describe the contents of the section - remember using language that can be understood by people visiting your site.
Example:
- "Jobs" not "Opportunities"
- "News" not "Happenings" or "What's on"
Short
Section names should be succinct so try and pick the shortest names for the section names.
Example:
- "Contact us" not "Learn all about us here"
Consistent
The site sections should not contain jargon. It should be easily accessible to the reader.
If you must have excessive use of acronym you should apply tags in the html to explain what they mean in the first instance. I.e:
<acronym title="title_here">
Better yet, explain them in full and apply the tag when referring to the acronym elsewhere on the page.
Example:
- Melbourne Research Office (MRO)
This all feeds into the conceptualisation of your page design.