How Big is my Site Going to be?

Determine the size of your web site before you begin. Is it going to have only a few pages, hundreds of pages, or thousands of pages?

Sites that implement what I like to call "we will just add links as we go method" start out fine, but as they get bigger their navigation system usually becomes a usability nightmare. The larger the web site is going to be the more planning you will need to do for site architecture and navigation.

If your site is going to have hundreds or thousands of pages you should make use of a local search engine. This will help the more advanced user find what they are looking for. With a larger site you should make use of some kind of site map. This will help show were the user is compared to the rest of the site. Hopefully if a user knows were they are, they will be able to navigate to where they want to go.

The site map will not work well unless the user knows where they are on the map. All pages should link to the site map and the map should highlight the page that the user just came from. If you have a large site don't bore the visitor with the same exact page layout over and over. You should always keep the same theme going, but making little changes makes a big difference on large web sites.

Always keep the same navigation system, color scheme, and company logo in the same place on all web pages.

(next subtopic - What is the final goal of the web site? )

Web site design tips provided by scott@designmore.com visit his site at designmore.com

What's New

Find Out Who is Making Money on the Web!

Features