This page discusses - Navigation of a web document
Navigation of a web document
Navigation of the web and of a web document are two entirely different things. A web document can easily fit in a single web page along with other pages too that focus on a specified topic. When the user searches for a specific topic then the web page is what is displayed to him. This web page contains one or more web documents and other elements too.
Navigation of Documents
It is essential to use links to guide the reader through a document when it is being written. Linking should be thought of as the best and the fastest means to get the user to the most relevant information. It is always beneficial to link to supporting details after stating conclusions and enumerating links to lists and categories and also link to full treatments and also summarize.
The links that are contained within the documents are essential primary links that you want your users should see, as they are used like guideposts by users so, they should be written correctly so that best advantage can be drawn form them. However it?s important that you make only the most pertinent links a part of the document or they could turn distracting and draw the attention of the user away form the main content.
Links that are not too relevant but are meaningful for additional information should be placed in the end of the document or at its margins.
The website should be such designed that it can easily load in 10 seconds maximum size of 50kb including pictures and all. The navigational points that you will have on your pages should be grouped in relevant categories.
You need to look into the likes and dislikes of all types of users for instance if your site is basically centered upon flash then there should also be an HTML option for users who like to be more discreet and less fancy.
Simple text navigation links should be provided at the bottom of pages so as to avoid the user the inconvenience of scrolling back up. All the internal pages should carry a link to the home page. A bread crumb trail which traces the user?s entire sequence of opening pages should be provided so that the user can go back to the page which ever he likes.
To facilitate searches within your own site if it is too big you should put a search engine at the top right corner of the homepage and make sure the search box is set to search just your site and not the whole web.
Also to help users who might have followed a bad link to your site you should create a custom error page.
Navigation of the Web
The link that will take the user outside the document that he is currently working on means that the link is functional to navigate the user to a third party website. Try to make it possible that when the user clicks on such a link then it should take him to information that is relevant and additional to the document or more specifically the paragraph that he is consulting.
It always increases the credibility of your website if you provide links to supplementary information from other sites too. This will make the user a frequent visitor to your site.