Creating The Best Website Layout

If you lot desire your website to hold upwards optimized for Search Engines together with User Friendly, together with hence you lot should follow proven pattern standards. Many of these standards were developed yesteryear manufacture professionals, years of inquiry (not to cite lawsuit together with error), together with website analytics.

The key pattern together with layout elements which should rest constant are: Masthead across the tiptop – the masthead is where the logo goes together with commonly the imagery that supports the champaign of report affair on the website.

The left manus column should incorporate all the primary navigation, which should rest constant across the whole website. It should listing all the principal categories of the website, hence users tin ship away respect their way only about from every page.

The correct manus column on the homepage should render navigation to private pages inward the site which you lot desire to highlight. Or, it tin ship away hold upwards used for small-scale applications, such every bit e-mail newsletter sign-up, scrolling tidings headlines, links to the forum, etc. This column tends to disappear on the content pages to acquire out to a greater extent than infinite for the article together with images.

Top bill of fare bar – some sites direct keep nigh of their navigation inward the tiptop bill of fare bar which goes across the page nether the masthead (take a hold off at Guardian or Forbes every bit examples). I don't similar this for ii reasons. First, it restricts the set out of bill of fare links that you lot tin ship away have. Secondly, it commonly agency that the site has flash based drib downward menus to enable them to adjust to a greater extent than links. Flash menus are non user friendly. They strength your reader to search for links to the content they are looking for. Don't brand your user run for their answers. Also, search engines respect it harder to index sites alongside flash menus.

Bottom bill of fare bar – This strip at the pes of every page tends to incorporate links to the site's damage together with conditions, privacy statement, sitemap, etc.

The cardinal column contains the content. On the homepage, this tin ship away hold upwards a combination of an introduction to the website together with teasers to articles. On the content pages, the articles together with images sit down inward the cardinal column.

Search tiptop correct on every page – this is the search box used to search the content of the website. This is a less stiff placement than it used to be, but you lot can't acquire incorrect if you lot identify it tiptop right.

Time together with date – commonly placed on the correct manus side nether the masthead. This is optional, but does laissez passer on readers the impression that the site is up-to-date.

Within this layout at that topographic point is a groovy bargain of flexibility to add together your ain personality together with styles, peculiarly when you lot overlay your pattern on the basic page structure. However, at all times your set out 1 finish should hold upwards constant; that is to brand your website unproblematic together with intuitive, for every reader that visits. To hit this larn from those sites that direct keep a lot of experience.

Special thank you lot to Miles Gilford for his contribution.