When planning a web project, designers consider their visitors’ needs and try to build a website they can use.
Usually the homepage explains how the site can help the visitor, with links to interesting areas and a general description. Then there is lots of interesting content, some interactivity, and navigation to move between sections.
The design follows a fairly linear process: the user arrives at the homepage, decides this is the site for them, then starts to devour the content — a little like a book, digesting from section to section, drilling down through the website.
Sadly, these ravenous readers are few and far between. When examining log files across various projects, a leaner and more skittish reader appears — skimming from page to page, rarely even glancing at the homepage. Most users of content-driven websites arrive from a search at Google, Yahoo or Bing, deep within the website, usually at a page that fits their information need precisely. They want to know about “Zande spears” or “Potala Palace in Tibet”.
With this knowledge, it puts quite a spin on the idea of a “homepage”. Almost every page needs to work a little like a homepage. If people don’t understand what your website is about immediately — when they land at a random deep page — the website has partially failed.
Suggestions
Keep language as easily understandable as possible. Using anything even slightly ambiguous in your main navigation or page title will confuse some people. Think through your language use: does everyone understand what an accession number is? Should it be called a museum number? Any vague language could easily be misinterpreted.
Every internal page needs:
- A clear indication of what site they are on
- Context about where this page sits within the site
- Navigation to explore related content
- A way to get in touch or take action
Designing for the entry point of a search result, not the homepage, is one of the most important shifts in web design thinking.