To understand effective design, the designer must first understand the concepts of the home page, main topic pages, and subsidiary pages, and the importance of making a site easy to navigate.

Organisational Structure

The organization of a Web site is a hierarchy with the most important page on top and subsidiary pages below:

Individual pages on a site are broken down into three main groupings:

Home page
Main topic pages
Subsidiary pages

This organizational structure, simplified to it's lowest elements, forms the foundation of a Web site. However, the designer's most important navigational tool is the home page because it is typically the first page seen by visitors.

Home Page

The home page (or front page) is the table of contents or index to a Web site. The home page is the most important page on a site because it's typically a visitor's first impression of the person or organization.

There are three things the front page should convey:

The site's purpose — who, what, when, where and why
What content is contained in the site
How to find that content

Main Topic Pages

Main topic pages are divisions of the home page. From any main topic page, visitors should be able to access the home page to learn more about the organization and it's products or services.

They should also be able to access any other main topic page — particularly one where goods or services can be purchased.

Subsidiary Pages

Generally, subsidiary pages are subsets of a main topic page. From any subsidiary page, visitors should be able to access the home page or any of the main topic pages because it's impossible to determine how a visitor arrives at the site. For instance, the visitor may arrive at a given page from links on other sites, friends' suggestions or, more commonly, search engines.

Splash Pages

A splash page is traditionally used for a first "splash" of art which then transports the visitor automatically to the true home page. In some instances, the user must click to gain access to the home page.

Splash pages may be confusing to visitors unless there are specific instructions regarding what they should do to gain entry to the site. Avoid confusing people. They need to know where they are and what they should do.

The one exception to this rule is the site that has both an artistic flair and also downloads quickly.