Navigation
Navigation is a large topic and one of the most hotly debated areas of both
general Site Design and SEO. We'll take a look at some of the more coommon
navigational models and some of the most common pitfalls.
Types of Navigation
There are a great many navigation schemes and combinations to
choose from, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Top Bar (Header)
This site employs a top bar. Ours is a simple row of tabs. Some sites
take top bar navigation to extremes, employing sophisticated drop down
menu systems.
Pro
-
Clear and easy to understand.
-
Popular with Users.
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Simple to implement and maintain.
Con
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Can dilute page value. The html that renders the top nav is usually one of the first
parts of the page to be sent to the browser/crawler. Some crawlers assume that what comes
first is important, so keep this weight to a minimum.
Left Nav
Ubiquitous. You'll be hard pressed to find a site that doesn't employ some kind
of navigation on the left hand side of the page.
Pro
-
Clear and easy to understand.
-
Popular with Users.
-
Simple to implement and maintain.
Con
-
Like Top Navs, the html that displays the left nav usually features near
the top of the page file.
Right Nav
Like left navs but on the right. Far less common than their left hand siblings.
Pro
- Unlike Top and LEft navigation, the html that draws the Right Nav usually
comes after the page content in the source file.
Con
Footer
Like headers, but on the bottom.
Pro
Con
-
Users don't look here.
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Crawlers have a tendency to assume that anything so low on the page is unimportant.
Navigation Behaviors
There are a great many navigation schemes and combinations to
choose from, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Top Bar (Header)
This site employs a top bar. Ours is a simple row of tabs. Other examples of top
bar navigation include sophisticated drop down menus.
Left Nav
Ubiquitous.
Right Nav
Like left navs but on the right. Far less common than thier left hand siblings.
Footer
Like left navs but on the right. Far less common than thier left hand
siblings.The Verdict
Dynamic, but intelligently so.
Summary of rules...
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