Links & Menus:
What They are, How They Work

You've probably seen them all: Links and menus items that change color when you run the mouse over them, pull down menus, menus that slide out sideways, etc. The choice of menu type for your site WILL have an affect on site usability in addition to appearance, so choose carefully!

By William R. Stocking CMC

There are many types of navigational devices used on websites. In these articles we will try to explore the major types of menus in use; the good and bad characteristics of each.

Attributes of website navigational objects:

1. Link identification
2. Identification of link destination
3. Feedback when visitor "mouses over" the link
4. Indication that the visitor has already followed a link
5. Search engine friendliness
6. Download speed, size
7. Appearance

A. The simple, old fashioned text link:

For a number of years, the simple, old fashioned text link such as: Any-page was the most prevalent type of menu item and link object. How does this traditional format rate on each of the above characteristics?

1. Excellent - This type of link is easily identified as a link because of the blue color and the underlining. Anyone who has ever used the web knows what it is and what it does.
2. Excellent - Because this kind of link is plain text, it can be as long as necessary to indicate destination, particularly in the main body of text.
3. Not good - It provides feedback by the little hand that appears when moused over. Depending on the size of the text, spacing and other factors, links can be hard to click on.
4. Excellent - After a link has been followed, the traditional text link will look like this: Any-page , it turns a magenta color.
5. Excellent - Search engines have no trouble following traditional text links.
6. Excellent - Simple, text based links have virtually no affect on page downloading speed.
7. Poor - The old fashioned text link is ugly. Often, it will clash with the color scheme of a site and interrupt the flow of a design.

Summary: Traditional text link

There are many good reasons why classic text based menus and links are still very much in use after 13 years, (a Century in Internet time.) They are very easy to construct, have little overhead and everyone knows how they work. Examples of large sites that make extensive use of this traditional type of link are Yahoo and Amazon.com.

However, there is a better link solution that retains the virtues of this kind of menu while fixing some of the deficiencies.

B. Style Sheet modified text link

The traditional text link can be easily modified using Cascading Style Sheet technology. This site, websiterevamp, makes extensive use of this type of up-to-date text link. Here is how this type of link rates on each of the above attribuites.

1. Excellent link identification - By using style sheets the designer can make links stand out in a number of ways.
2. Excellent identification of link destination - Same characteristics as traditional text links.
3. Excellent feedback to the visitor - The designer can cause a number of different things to happen as the visitor hovers over the link: The background can change color, (try this link), as can the link, the link text can be bolder or enlarged, etc.
4. Excellent visited indication that the visitor has already followed a link if the designer chooses to include that function; the color of the link can change as can the background to the link.
5. Excellent search engine friendliness - This type of link is no different from the traditional text link in this respect.
6. Excellent download speed & small size - Here again, this kind of link adds little burden to the page.
7. Okay appearance - With style sheet modification, text links become easier to blend into the overall color scheme and style of a site.

Summary: Style Sheet modified text link

Text type links and menus are once again in wide use thanks to Cascading Style Sheet technology which has zipped up their appearance and functionally. Because of their efficiency and flexibility, this type of menu is being widely used on high traffic sites.

To some people, this type of menu item still looks "plain." Graphic designers are more likely to use this type of link than plain text links. But, in spite of advantages over traditional text links they still can offer difficulties blending into highly stylized designs.

If your website hasn't got the right stuff under the hood, you don't stand a chance of winning the race!