Have you ever been to a web site where you simply could not figure out how to navigate around? Did you give up in disgust?

You are not the only one. And unless you make easy navigation a priority on your web site, you risk losing your customers in much the same way.

One of the reasons the Internet has become so popular is, that it has become relatively easy to use. But with more and more people connecting, you should expect less and less Internet experience.

Which is precisely what your web site design must take into account.

While you should be able to expect a minimum in navigation skills from your visitors - they ought to know how to click on words and pictures to view other pages - you should not expect them to go for a treasure hunt on your website to find the one link word that opens your Internet shop or provides access to your shopping cart.

A good web site design should take the guess work out of the navigation and give the visitor the power to move around with ease. Of course shopping cart software such as ShopFactory do this automatically for you.

But if you are creating your own navigation, simply use common sense if you are unsure. For example: When your home page comes up, is it immediately obvious that there are links you can follow?

If not, you have a problem. Think of the links as the map to your web site. If you do not give your visitors the map, they will get lost - and will probably not purchase from you.