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When determining what navigation system would work best on your Web site, rmember the most important point: KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Remember that new Internet users make up most of the traffic to any site. Though they may loose interest for your fancy icons and mouse rollovers, wht they really want to be able to move around your site in the easiest and quickest manner possible.

So don’t try to impress your viewers with your fancy navigation system. Instead, create a system that is simple and functional. Think about what you appreciate most on a Web site. You want to find what you’re looking for. So do your visitors.

One of the best ways to analyse the effectiveness of your navigation system is to plot it on paper. By studying it on paper, you’ll often see holes on your navigation system that you might not have noticed otherwised.

Two other keys are the flow of your site from page to page and the navigational tools you give your visitors. The capability to move from one place to another in your site should not test your visitors’ patience but reward them with valuable information and a freedom that keeps them at yoursite rather than clicking away in frustration. This section gives you a number of things to consider and a list of guide-lines to make sure the navigation system is both well structured and fully functional.

To analyze your own page design, you should start by looking at what your competition is offering. This may not always be possible if your type of service is offered via secured areas to other business. You can find similar services offered online to the public on the web. Check out these sites and find out what new methods or goodies they offer.

Here’s what you should consider as you search other companies’ sites:

• Look at their general page layout. Does the page draw your eye to te whole page, searching its content, or does it draw your eye to one particular area and away from other important elements?
• What kinds of interaction do they provide?
• Are their graphics effective? If so, what kinds and how many do they use?
• Do they use anything that detracts from the page? Does some-thing stand out to you as an effective use of page design?
• How quickly does the page download?
• Have they included contact information on each page? If so, what information have they provided, and in what format (for example, a mailto directive, a script, a form)?
• Can you easily find the information you need from the page within a few seconds?