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Local Navigation

"Local navigation" is a broad concept which includes everything a person can use to find the product, service of piece of knowledge he/she is looking for upon arriving at your site.

The following are the most common elements of local navigation:

Key term search box - Perhaps thanks to the influence of search engines such as Google, a key term search box is quickly becoming the first tool a user turns to upon arriving at a site (assuming that whatever they wanted was not immediately obvious upon their arrival.)

Category search/drilldown - Many users, upon arriving at a site offering a diversity of products, will look for some sort of logical category scheme, much in the same way as a person entering a store will look up for signs designating the different "department" or "aisles."

Header Links - Most sites contain a header with one or more layers of stylized links guiding the user to major sections of the website. Users generally expect to find standard links such as "Contact Us," "About Us," "Links," or a "Site Map" at the top of the page. It is not required, of course, but those diverging from this tradition ought to have a failproof scheme in place for providing the same information.

Home Page - While sometimes not considered in this regard, the home page is actually a vital element in a website's internal navigation. Given current search engine technology, which returns only the most relevant page of any website, it is actually rather unlikely that your home page is the first page a user will find. Many users instinctively look for the home page link, and from there expect to be able to quickly find what they are looking for.

InformationarchiTECH brings years of experience to bear upon the design and development of local navigation for your website.  If you are starting a new website, or simply feel that your current one is not getting the results you hoped for, simply give us a call at 337-706-7460.  Or, request a quote online.