Navigation

Information Architecture and Navigation

The goal of a website’s information architecture, or IA, is to structure and organize website content such that a user can easily navigate and find the desired information. The place where your IA is most apparent is your site navigation.

• Your IA should reflect your goals and priorities.
• Your IA should not duplicate your organizational chart. A website serves its users, not its creators.
• Content does not need to be linked directly off of your homepage in order to be found. If a website is well-organized, well-labeled, optimized for search engines and stocked with relevant, useful content, your users will find what they need.

Learn more about Information Architecture.

Navigation Best Practices

• The navigation of your page should be simple and intuitive.
• Organize information according to how website visitors will look for it.
• The menu structure would reflect the structure of your site or how pages are organized.
• Keep section and page names simple and short – one or two words, if possible.
• Every link should make sense if the link text is read by itself (screen readers).

Breadcrumbs

JumboPress has breadcrumbs under the main menu ribbon to illustrate the page path users have followed to get to the page they’re on. These are generated by giving pages parents and/or organizing them in the main menu.

Link Text

It is very important that all links are kept up to date and go to a live page. It is also important that the text that compromises the link is a phrase that could stand alone. This is also a practice that enables screens readers to work better for those using them to navigate your site.

For example a link text that says, “click here” doesn’t give much information. Link text that says “more information about your health benefits” is longer, more descriptive, and can stand on it’s own.

Questions?

If you have any questions or would like more information about navigation or information architecture, please contact us.