Provide access to all the features on the site via the site map
- Keep it up-to-date to reflect the present site structure and contents
- Include the major categories, sections and subsections – you should not include every link!
Organise according to your audience’s needs
- Not necessarily directly reflecting the Web directory structure
- Although, if you have good audience centric information architecture, they should be the same
- Clearly communicate hierarchies and relationships using titles and indented lists
Display as much information as possible at the top of the page
- A grid structure will do this better than a simple long list of links
- Get rid of adverts, related links and so on
Link to the site map from every page
- Apart from the site map itself
Ensure the visited links status is displayed
- Differentiate from visited and un-visited links to aid navigation [see 2b]
Notes and discussion points
Site map or site index?
For some sites it is more logical to have a site index arranged alphabetically. Use a site index where your audience is likely to know what they are looking for and you have clear and well known titles for your contents. Provide in-page alphabet menu (a through to z) so that people can jump to items starting with a particular letter. In a site index you can also include synonyms to cross reference the actual titles you are using with those that are also likely to be searched for.