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4/18/2016

Good Web Design through Site Navigation and a Custom 404

Good Web Design through Site Navigation and a Custom 404 Error Page

A lot can be said on what a good web design should look like. One of the areas that are crucial to such a design is the development of a Web sites navigation map. A navigation map lets your visitors be carried from one page to another and the more seamless this design is, the easier it will be for visitors to scroll through your content and the more likely they are to book-marking your site and paying frequent visits. When well designed it can also be a valuable tool to improve your search page rankings.

Start by identifying your web pages for your case model. This will also determine what actions the visitors will be capable of performing. Next is to visualize a generic page showing the actions that users will be able to perform. These pages will act as templates and a good web design will use a similar template for each action taken by a user. When a user clicks a button, you can decide either to have a simple login page pop up or just direct the user to a certain page.

Development begins by taking an actual look and feel of the page layouts. Good web design should follow business logic to complete actions performed using the navigation map. Business logic can be seen in e-commerce sites where a user logs in and picks the item cart. He or she picks items and adds them to the cart. He or she then proceeds to the checkout area, and then to the order submission area and finally fills in the shipping information.

Good web design can also be seen in custom made error pages. In most cases, users are generally directed to a 404 error page and are left stranded. In such as situation, the user may decide to leave the site entirely and look for another site. One way to resolve this is by use of a 301 and redirect users to a page that offers more information. Response codes generated can be found by performing a simple search on any search engine. Using a custom made error page that offers the users information on how to locate what they were looking for will more likely move the user to continue navigating other sections of your website. 404 page not found errors can even affect your search engine rankings.

By having a site navigation map and a custom-made 404 error page, you stand a better chance of having higher page rankings and your good web design will keep your visitors a little longer and hopefully bring them back another day.