In my next three posts, I plan to talk with you about why quality of design counts when it comes to having an effective web strategy.  The things I’m going to talk about include:

1. Having a consistent site navigation structure (menu)
2. The importance of color
3. How to anticipate your user’s needs and measure their actions

So, for today, I’d like to stick with having a consistent site navigation structure.  To kick things off, I’d like to share a few links of websites that I’ve stumbled across that offer no clear or consistent navigation structure:

• http://www.mhmanufacturing.com/ - This is a Chinese based manufacturer that’s trying to reach out to a global audience of buyers with three very specific products.  They’ve done a nice job at least getting images of those three key products in to place, but they’re lost after that.  Try finding the sames types of information about the company or their products from within any product-specific section of the site.  Right - not happening.
• http://www.lanyardsupply.com/ - This company based out of Walnut, California sells wholesale lanyards and promotional items.  They have a major web crisis on their hands.  It seems like that have a decent product, and a quick Google search indicates that they’re competivly priced, but their poor design loses all credibility with the user right away.  I’d pay twice as much to feel like I’m working with a professional firm - clearly illustrating that good design and trust go hand-in-hand on the web.

Clear, consistent navigation is important so that your site’s user can quickly find the information they’re looking for, digest it and, most importantly, act on it.  Having this navigation in place will also help you, the site or company owner, to better focus your information in to manageable chunks that are worth sharing with the public on the web.

If you think it’s cool to have buttons that move around from page to page or are animated to follow the cursor wherever the user moves, then you need to have a serious talk with your web design companyabout how to most effectively implement your company’s web presence.

Some examples of sites with quality, consistent navigation are featured to the right in our limited “Client Portfolio” snippet.  Let me know if you’d like some more examples!

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