Boot Camp

Web Authoring Boot Camp
would definitely not place in your main or drop-down second level navigation. These can
be accessed from your website’s sitemap, from occasional inline links, and from the first
and/or second level pages themselves. These third level pages, and ones at even lower
levels, would branch out of the secondary level pages from your main categories.
Utility Pages
Utility pages are, simply put, necessary pages on your website that do not relate to the
main categories. These include your Legal/Disclaimer page, your Sitemap page, and can
include your Contact Us page if you want to link that somewhere other than the main
navigation.
Navigation Order
The navigation order is also critical. You want to draw the visitor in with clear choices so
s/he can move to the needed category/page link, then from there move to the next level
and/or action to be taken.
• Main navigation (top level) takes visitors to the main categories (pages) of the
website where they can learn more about the categories of information and move
to the acting or decision-making step. On a book products website, Mystery could
be a top level.
• Sub navigation (second-level) is for sub categories of the main section. In the
case of a Books website with a main level of Mystery, sub navigation might include
thrillers, cozies, forensic, etc.
• Footer navigation is for utility and client information links - website support
links. These include pages like privacy rights, disclaimer, email link, links to a
contact form, link to directions, the website sitemap, etc.
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