Using a template to enforce consistent navigation

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Keeping your navigation consistent through a big website is tough. This is especially true if you use directories and sub-directories. You need to make sure that a visitor who “lands” on one of your interior pages has a key to understanding where they are in your system architecture.

The solution I arrived at this week is in play at the free article directory. Using redirection, the user can teleport to various areas of the website, rather than plodding along in a hierarchical pulldown menu. When your directory only has a few main categories on your main page, I’m sure it dissuades visitors (bored ones mostly) from quicky hitting escape. If you provide them with a way to quickly navigate your website, it at least shows that you’re thoughtful enough to make the site worth a few extra minutes of surfing time. This could be a big difference between someone buying from you, and someone forgetting about you forever and quickly.

How well this will work in reality, I’m unsure, but it was easy enough to do, and will perhaps conserve more visitors.

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