Structure

Page elements

each element must work together to communicate the site conversion intention:

• a logo/name/tagline/headline/call-to-action/value propostion
• An Inspirational Collection of Creative Headlines and Taglines
• how to create a great tagline
• cliche marketing taglines
• How to create the perfect call to action
• Useful Value Proposition Examples
• a header
• 50 Website Header Designs That Showcase Creativity and Wit
• descriptive navigation
• Are You Making These Common Website Navigation Mistakes?
• hero image
• Exploring the Hero Image Trend in Web Design
• a page heading
• Introducing Your Content: Page Titles and Headings
• relevant copy (text)/high quality graphics
• The Big Deal About Text Formatting in Web Design
• a footer
• Creative Website Footer Designs for Inspiration

Navigation

• to move around site
• know where you're at on site (if you are in the right place)
• vistitors look for:
  • site name
  • tag line
  • relevant images
  • relevant text info
• content structure
  • primary
    • category (nouns/descriptive)
    • audience driven
    • task-based (verbs)
  • secondary
    • popularity or promoted content (like youTube)
    • location (news/local interest)
    • time (news/historical)
    • alphabetical (library)
• menu design
  • standard design
    • top horizontal (short list)
    • left column list (longer list)
  • bad design
    • unusable menus (drop-downs that disappear)
    • confusing terms (jargon, made-up names, colloquialisms)
    • use 7 items or less, if you need more put in groups
• site maps
  • can use different (separate) navigation (more maintenance)
  • place in footer
• links
  • blue underline old standard
  • underline on hover new standard
  • visited link different color
  • use descriptive vs click here links
  • related/more info links
  • in-page links for long pages
    • label well
    • back to top link
  • breadcrumbs for heirarchical content
  • faster to hit large targets close than small targets far

Site layout

• since most people get to your site from search engine, every page must:
  • make it clear what site is about
  • where you are on site
  • what you can do
• first what is your site about? this must be clear on every page
  • write a short sentence that describes what the site is about then create a tagline from that used in:
    • title
    • description/keywords
    • heading below site name
    • body
  • product, topic, geographic location most important
• link logo, title, and tagline to homepage
• meta title tag
  • 64 characters or less
  • unique on each page
  • reverse breadcrumbs
    • page description
    • topic or area
    • site name
    • use pipe or dash to separate vs punctuation
    • How to write meta title tags for SEO
• proggressive navigation
  • category pages
    • intro to several topics
  • detail pages
    • intro to single topic
• arranging content
  • scrolling pages
    • use plenty of subheadings
    • use in-page links
  • sequential pages
    • photo gallery
    • step-by-step instructions
    • need descriptive heading on first page
    • heading on subsequent pages describing continuation
  • splitting by detail
    • main page overview w/links to other pages
  • be consistent!
  • 2017 Web Best User Experience