Web site Organization and Structure

Patti Bentley | 21 April 2008 |

Organizing a website design is one of the most effective ways to make it user friendly and more productive. A few important elements of website design are; content, images, navigation, and placement. Each of these elements can be viewed as blocks of information that must be presented in a way which is pleasing to the viewer.

Homepage
The home page is the first thing that the viewer sees. A good first impression is a lasting impression. The home page is where the viewer is welcomed to your hotel or resort. Invite the viewer to come and stay with you. Tell them how comfortable and relaxed they will feel. You can do this with images and text. Display your logo prominently. Let them know how they can reach you by phone, address, email with a call to action. With a click of a button they can reserve a room. These elements should be placed above the fold; the area the viewer sees when first arriving at your site.

Text
Text on a page describes the purpose and goal of that page. For example; the accommodations page will have a brief description of rooms available. This information is quickly, easily read and understood by the viewer. The words you use to describe the room are being fed to search engines to direct more traffic to your site. A minimum of 150 words per page is a good start. Headings and bulleted lists count too.

Images
The images you choose to display your hotel or resort should be clean and crisp. Images should be sized appropriately to load quickly and be visually pleasing. The images that you choose set the mood for your site. A soothing beach photo, for example, will relax the viewer. The colors of your design also set the mood this way. If you choose to include a slide show, use a few quality images.

Clear Paths and Navigation
Who likes to get lost? Nobody does. Establish your main navigation position and keep that position throughout your site. The main navigation should have no more than 7 links including a home link. The names of each link should be clearly understood. These 7 links should organize the main areas of your site. The sub-navigation will break down into more specific areas. For example; a main navigation link to the accommodations page will describe the hotel rooms available. The sub-navigation will describe in detail the amenities of the suite. A preliminary layout of your site will help you to map your site for easy linking from page to page.

Lead the viewer through the site visually. Placement of images, text, navigation and use of white space is a path for the eye to follow. You may grab the viewer’s attention with a beautiful photo of the area surrounding your hotel or resort. Bring them to your logo as an identifier. Navigation will briefly explain what you have to offer a potential guest. A quick scan of the layout can take only seconds. A clean and simple layout is best and easier to update, maintain and expand.

Layout, design and organization of a site are an important part of its productivity. You want your viewers to arrive at your site, reserve a room and stay a while.