Navigation

Navigation is a component on a webpage or a series of grouped components that are used as the primary source of access to the pages within a site. Components of navigation include left-side and vertical navigation, bread-crumb trails and hyperlinks. The arrangement of navigation has a strong relationship to the site's information architecture.

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Website navigation is both the representation of the information architecture (the structure) of a site, and the mechanism by which users move around the site.

Good website navigation allows users to easily answer the following questions for every page of the site:

What site am I on?
Where am I in the site?
What can I do here?
Where can I go to from here?
Where is the information I'm looking for?

A variety of website navigation types are used throughout a site. The most common types include:

Global navigation. This is persistent across the entire site and usually allows easy access to major parts of the site.
Local navigation. This allows people to move around in the part of the site that they are currently in.
Contextual navigation. This links together related pages and is often embodied as links within text or lists of 'see also' links.
Supplemental navigation. This comprises additional navigation tools such as site maps, indexes and guides.