The two top reasons given for a visitor to leave a website in haste are long download time and confusing navigation. The top reason a search engine stops spidering a website is confusing navigation without usable links. In this article I delve into five design tools that will make your website easily navigable and usable for visitors and search engines alike.

TOOL #1. Make sure that all links appear somewhere on the site as words (text). I love buttons and rollovers but these are graphics and search engines dont read graphics. Alternatives include:

• Bottom of the page links -- you can still have buttons, but always include the actual words as links somewhere on the page. The bottom makes sense for those scrolling down the page.
• Descriptive words that are also links -- these serve several purposes. Besides helping with the navigation, these words help with the direction in which you want your visitors to go.
• Create a site map using words (text) and short descriptions -- after studying search engine optimization (SEO), I realize the importance of using descriptive words for the links. I now use a site map for all of the larger websites I design.

TOOL #2. Make liberal use of the ALT tag, which is the textual name for a graphic. Use them for:

• Buttons and rollovers -- even when your buttons sport names, the search engines and those who are blind and using an Internet reading program wont recognize them without the ALT tags.
• Graphic hotspots that link to special pages or page anchors (invisible bookmarks) -- I designed a regional website with a map and stars on the map that take you to a page dedicated to the stars location. I use ALT tags to name and describe the locations, so all the visitor needs to do is roll over the stars and click on the one that names the location they are looking for.

TOOL #3. Use anchors or bookmarks for speedy travel. These are the invisible, but highly effective markers that can be placed anywhere on a website and linked to from that same page or from another page.

• Back to Top -- is the link to the anchor top placed at the top of the page, so if the page is lengthy, a visitor can get back to the top immediately without having to scroll.
• Use anchors in an index -- if a page has many headings for a particular topic, I often place the headings in an index at the beginning of the page, making each a link to that heading.
• Use anchors for special information -- for example, you might place an anchor at a definition on a FAQ page and then link to it for those who want more information. I also use anchors for products referred to in another context on a different page.

TOOL #4. Use underlining for links and dont use underlining for emphasis (non-links). Yes, there are surfers who hate underlining, but an underline is usually the clue that you have encountered a link.

TOOL #5. There is latitude in picking colors for links and visited links. At least, all links are no longer that jarring bright blue of the past, but remember that the newer colors for links may still confuse some users.

My final suggestion is, Know your target audience and do everything you can to make their navigation of your website a dream rather than a nightmare.