ShermanAndGreg Technology and Business

The most basic component of a Web site is its navigational structure. This is the oldest and most common factor in Web design, but also the most underestimated. Simply stated, if the visitor cannot navigate or negotiate a Web site with ease, and if the information is difficult to access, then they will leave. It takes only a few months of reviewing select Web sites for the Webby Awards to discover that even in this age of advanced Web design, most designers fail to achieve navigational organization beyond the very basics on their sites. Instead, it seems that the art of creating effective navigation has been superseded by the desire to host the latest technologies and communication addons. Yet, visiting a site that has videos, Flash and all the bells and whistles is a fruitless experience if sufficient attention has not been paid to the navigational structure of the site. Encountering this hurdle is particularly frustrating when the site is extensive, which makes searching for specific information hidden in a mysterious maze of links and directions time consuming.