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Pop-up Text. All navigation links including menus, should have text that pops up when the pointer moves or hovers over the link. This text provides additional information about where the link goes saving the visitor time when deciding whether or not to go to a particular page (search engines also make use of this information when ranking a page).

Link Names. Use informative words but avoid jargon and acronyms. Don't make your visitor guess where the link is going to take them. Refrain from being innovative using say 'Mailbox" in place of "Contact Us".

General. Place the menu below any graphics including your organisation's logo as this meets visitor expectations.

Home. Home should be the first item in the menu - be it at the top of a vertical menu or on the left hand side of a horizontal menu.

Contact Us. Make it easy for you visitor to contact you. Place the Contact menu item at the end (i.e. on the right hand side of a horizontal menu) or bottom of the main menu.

These are used to provide links to other pages within a section (or even a variety of sections, in which case they may contain their own set of pop-out or drop-down menu items). Submenus menus can be found on large sites, particularly where pop-out or dropdown menus are not in use within the main menu area. The submenu menu is usually found on the left hand side of the page.

This refers to those navigation items that are frequently found on large sites that show the geographical location of a page. It also provides visitors an alternative 'back' button. Example: Home>Services>Consulting. Breadcrumbs appear on the left hand side of a page (usually) below the logo (and any horizontal main menu) and above the main content area.

Sometimes found on large sites at the very top on the right hand side above the logo/menu area. Usually only two or three items such as: site map, privacy policy, and home. Important items but not the main focus of the site.

Sites often include a menu at the bottom of the page. It is frequently used to provide access to the site's main pages, saving the viewer from having to scroll back up to find the main menu. As alternative, some sites use the phrase 'back to top' which, when clicked upon returns the visitor to the top on the page.

Headlines can be used as navigation links. If your site uses them check to see that its easy to recognise such links, that they are used consistently across the site, and that such headlines can be readily distinguished from the more conventional headline.

Navigation links can be contained within a sentence. One of the most common forms is "click here". If your site uses such navigation links make sure that the words are informative and that the links can be readily seen as links (e.g. underlined text). Bear in mind that inline links are distracting especially when scanning a page.

On almost all sites an organisation's logo is to be found at the very top of a website page. Consider having a logo that links back to the home page when clicked upon. It saves visitors from having to look for the home "button".

Larger sites frequently provide a site map. This is a page(s) devoted to listing the pages on the website in a hierarchical manner. The listings are linked to the relevant page and generally use the same words as either the page's title or the menu(s). In addition to being useful to visitors search engine also like site maps particularly if the site is a "dynamic" site using a database to generate content. For very large sites, consider limiting the number of links to around 100 links per page.

Larger sites generally provide a search facility enabling a visitor to quickly locate the information they are seeking on your site. It is frequently found on the right hand side of each website page.