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Websites: Viewing Paths
What's ImportantIf you keep up with our general view of marketing and communication, you know by now that we believe that a great, easy-to-navigate website is central to the success of your business. In this installment of Insights we will focus on the easy-to-navigate aspect of the web by recommending a technique that invites visitors to go deeper into your site by using view paths.
A viewing path is a visual cue, often fairly dominant on the page that leads a viewer to a secondary page where more detail awaits. Viewing paths are used to organize key categories of information or to present items of particular note. We like to use them in threes, often arrayed side by side or stacked one on top of the other. A good location for viewing paths is in the side bars either left or right. Regardless of how they are used, viewing paths can make a tremendous difference in how easily visitors to your site find what’s most important.
Things You Can DoStart by determining what categories of information are most important to your site visitors. These are good candidates for viewing paths. The next step is to consider the visual that best represents the category. It may be a rectangle, oval or whatever makes the most sense. Try not to get too clever, though, since a good clear image beats something overdesigned. Viewing paths typically combine an image with text since the goal is to help the visitor to clearly understand where they need to go. Of the two, the image will typically be dominant.
That’s all for now. Look for more Insights soon. Until then, God Bless and keep safe.