Navigation
The type of navigation system was recorded, as well as the number of main navigation links. This was fairly subjective, though, as to what I thought constituted the main links. On a number of sites it was difficult to determine whether or not certain elements of the navigation should be included. In addition, the number of footer links was also totalled up. Email address (mailto:) links were not counted, on the basis that they do not help you to navigate round the web site.
| Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valid | Bottom links | 2 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Bottom left links | 3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 3.9 | |
| bottom left, right links | 1 | .8 | .8 | 4.7 | |
| Bottom right links | 1 | .8 | .8 | 5.5 | |
| Centre links | 22 | 17.2 | 17.2 | 22.7 | |
| Centre, right links | 2 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 24.2 | |
| Drop down menus, top | 13 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 34.4 | |
| Left, centre links | 7 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 39.8 | |
| Left links | 31 | 24.2 | 24.2 | 64.1 | |
| Left, right links | 3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 66.4 | |
| Right links | 6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 71.1 | |
| Top, centre links | 1 | .8 | .8 | 71.9 | |
| Top links | 17 | 13.3 | 13.3 | 85.2 | |
| Top, left links | 4 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 88.3 | |
| Top left tabs | 1 | .8 | .8 | 89.1 | |
| Top, right links | 2 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 90.6 | |
| Top right tabs | 1 | .8 | .8 | 91.4 | |
| Top tabs | 7 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 96.9 | |
| Top tabs, left links | 3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 99.2 | |
| Top tabs, right links | 1 | .8 | .8 | 100.0 | |
| Total | 128 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Frequency | Percent | Valid Percent | Cumulative Percent | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valid | Both | 35 | 27.3 | 27.3 | 27.3 |
| Info about | 1 | .8 | .8 | 28.1 | |
| Info for | 16 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 40.6 | |
| Neither | 76 | 59.4 | 59.4 | 100.0 | |
| Total | 128 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
The most popular locations for navigation links were the left of the page, centre of the page and top of the page (in that order. Having drop down menus or tabs at the top of the page was also a fairly popular choice. Information for and information about styles of links are still used on some sites but the vast majority have neither.
Numbers of navigation links
| N | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | Std. Deviation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of main nav links | 128 | 3 | 27 | 11.68 | 5.259 |
| Number of footer nav links | 128 | 0 | 14 | 3.61 | 2.843 |
| Valid N (listwise) | 128 |
The average number of main navigation links is quite high, but so is the standard deviation. This illustrates the fact that there was a huge variation in the number of links on individual home pages and also that it was tricky to say with authority which ones could be classed as most important. The figures do give a rough indication, though.