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Information structure of a site is extremely important for its development. Insufficiently considered information structure may result in the appearance of “unnecessary” pages, duplicated pages, “broken” links on the site etc. That is why you should pay special attention to the development of the information structure of the site.
What does information structure of the site stand for? In general case it is the way of organizing information materials of the site together with all connections that allow these materials to interact with one another. The level of website usability (easiness to use) depends on the successful organization of this interaction.
During the development of the information structure of the site one should take into account, that the model of the site is chosen depending on the number of information materials that need to be placed on the site. These models are: linear, hierarchical or tangled (“cobweb”). Each of these models of website organization will have its own advantages.
Hierarchical structure of a site (a “tree”) is the most widespread model of organization of websites for business, such as representative websites and corporate websites. Hierarchical structure of the site allows the visitors to manage the depth of visiting of the site.
Information structure of a site in the form of a “tree” may contain sections that are subdivided into categories; categories, in their turn, are subdivided into subcategories. In a classical “tree” one information material can belong to one subcategory, category or section only.
What sections and categories should the information structure of a site for business contain?
There is no single opinion as to this question, as every company and organization is individual. Nevertheless, information structure of websites often includes “standard” sections and categories that do not take into account specific features of these sites.
For instance, typical information structure of many sites necessarily contains such section as “News” or “Company News”. Does every website need such section? Of course, it does not.
News sections or categories on websites for business are intended for regular publishing of company's news that are important for the visitors. For instance, in the news section you can inform the visitors about changes in the pricing policy, new advertising campaigns, bonuses and discounts – this information is really useful for the visitors.
However, if the news section of the site is not updated, if the last piece of news was added two years ago, this section can hardly bring any benefit. On the contrary, such section can harm the company's image very badly.
Thus, the presence of the News section in the information structure of a site, as well as presence of any other section, must be reasoned taking into account individual peculiarities of every particular site.
Is it possible to develop the information structure of a site if you have no information materials to fill the site with content?
All attempts to create the information structure of the site if you have no information materials, that are going to be placed on the site, are doomed to failure. The matter is, that if you have no information materials for the site or if you have only part of these materials, it is impossible to predict the interaction of these materials with one another. It may result in the necessity to change the initially created information structure of the site in accordance with new materials. As a result the information structure of a site may fall apart, and you will have to develop it once more from scratch.
TAGS
web design,
site structure,
information structure of a site,
site sections,
develop site structure |
web design 
