Ten Top Sites Compared - Page 2

AOL: majority default, others white underlined Yahoo: all default MSN: plain black, white, red, yellow, light olive, none underlined, none default Microsoft: most plain black not underlined, some default eBay: all default Amazon: all default Lycos: almost all default About: purple underlined Google: all default Disney: white underlined

Text Link Style

This table applies to text links, not navigation graphics. The HTML default is blue text underlined, and this is the most popular style. Microsoft and MSN opt for text links without underlining, although most usability experts believe these confuse users.

AOL: yes, 8 options Yahoo: yes, 6 MSN: yes, 7 Microsoft: yes, 7, text rather than graphics eBay: yes, 10 in two decks of different design Amazon: yes, 18 in three decks of different design Lycos: just 3 items, so barely counts as a top navbar About: no classic top navbar, but some text links in horizontal format lower down the page Google: yes, but just 4 items Disney: yes, 8

Top Navbar for Site Sections

A classic horizontal navigation bar shows links to site sections, usually between six to eight in number, and is close to the top of the page. This navigation technique is used by most of the top ten sites, and even the exceptions come very close to the classic format, using some form of horizontally listed links. A couple of sites use multiple decks of horizontal links, meaning more than one row. Usability theory says that seven or possibly eight links is the maximum that an average user can cope with in one batch, which is why these sites need multiple decks.

AOL: not in the classic sense, no Yahoo: no MSN: yes, maximum 16 in one batch Microsoft: yes, max 9 eBay: yes, max 35 Amazon: yes, max 25 Lycos: yes, max 18 About: no Google: no Disney: no

Left Hand Column of Links (vertical list)

Left hand links (in a distinct column) are used by exactly half the sites in our top ten.

AOL: not in the classic sense, no Yahoo: yes, maximum 8 in one batch MSN: yes, max 20 Microsoft: no, right column is part of the main body, not distinct eBay: no Amazon: yes, max 10 Lycos: yes, max 7 About: yes, max 10 Google: no Disney: no

Right Hand Column of Links (vertical list)

Exactly the same! Half the sites use left hand navigation (as a distinct column). MSN, Amazon and Lycos use link columns on both sides of the screen. If there's any conclusion to be drawn here, it's that no consensus exists about the best place to put a vertical columns of links.

Just two sites have more than 20 vertical links in a single batch. Three sites do not have a distinct vertical column of links on either side.

AOL: top left Logo and top left "Main" in navbar Yahoo: no MSN: top left logo and top left "MSN Home" in navbar Microsoft: top left logo and "Home" in navbar eBay: "home" in upper deck navbar Amazon: top left logo and top left "Welcome" Lycos: no About: no Google: no Disney: top left logo and "Home" in navbar

Home Link on the Home Page

The only reason to have a home link on the home page is for consistency — so it looks the same as pages further inside the site. Clearly it isn't essential for navigation, because it doesn't take you anywhere, just back to where you started. It's surprising that so many home pages (six out of ten in our sample) have this kind of link — and often twice. If there's something to be learned from this then it must be the value of visual consistency, that consistency appears to be more important than doing something that's otherwise pointless.

Ten Top Sites Compared
Ten Top Sites Compared - Page 3