what makes a great site
Plan what we want our visitors to do
Looking back at our goals for the site, visualize how interactions with our visitors are actually going to occur. In most cases, we want them to submit a form to either execute a sale or request a contact from us. This is called a conversion, and it is a key performance metric for any Web site.
Ultimately, we must lead our visitors all the way from the first landing page to the form if we wish them to take action. It’s important to make it easy to find the page where the conversion occurs; we can’t just hope our visitors find it. Often, the link to that page is a constant element on every page of the site.
Create the Site Map
One of the basic tenets of good Information Architecture is to avoid surprises. When presented with a button or a link, the user should know what lies ahead before they even click. In other words, our site needs to be well organized and logical. The Site Map is our blueprint for the orderly flow of content and navigation. It's the critical planning tool that keeps the organization tight. We mustn't short change the attention and thought we give to the Site Map.
One word of caution — it is tempting to think of the Site Map from the inside out instead of the outside in. Step into the shoes of the target audience and think about the site organization from their perspective.
To create a Site Map, the first step is to draft a list of all of the information items that are to be included on the site. Brainstorm and let the ideas fly. Then, take a pass through and prune out all the items that aren’t really necessary. (Some items may be filed away for possible use in a phase II expansion.)
Next, organize the "keepers" into 5 to 7 "buckets" of similar information. Give those buckets descriptive names like "products", "company", "services", etc. Those buckets will become our top-level navigation items that will be prominently placed on each and every page.
Each bucket should have no more than seven items, preferably five. Those items will become the individual pages of our site. If we have more than seven items, we’ll need to again group them as we did with the top-level navigation to create a second level of navigation. If necessary, we can even go down to a third level.