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Infographics of The Week #3

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For those that celebrated the 4th of July, I hope it was a relaxing weekend and to all my fellow North Americans up there who celebrated Canada Day; I hope you safely returned home without getting a flash bang grenade thrown at your lower extremities. *wink* Regardless, I do hope that all of you stayed safe! Perhaps because of the weekend where Americans rips off their shirts and drink ’til they drop, the vast selection or inspirational infographics were a bit poor.

1. The Biggest Tech IPOs of this Year

Regardless, I do hope that all of you stayed safe! Perhaps because of the weekend where Americans rips off their shirts and drink ’til they drop, the vast selection or inspirational infographics were a bit poor. However, Single Grain’s graphic on the biggest tech IPOs this year, really caught my eye. The use of data and information! =) It’s pretty easy but I’ll touch base with you either tomorrow or Sunday.

2. The State of Education

With advances being made every day, it’s hard for education to keep up. It’s just one of those issues that need to be addressed, but as we know, it’s not just some walk in the park. I featured this one because it literally hit home for me. The Online Education team using the college rule notebook paper and creating the student-like point of view, as if a child were expressing their concerns, was completely ingenious. And completely hand drawn. The illustrations were down to the teeth, as if you were a student who doodled because they were bored and needed to be heard. =)

Take a look, you’ll see what I mean.

3. That’s What THAY Say

“ Hunch has a new product. It’s supposed to change our lives and revolutionize the Internet. THAY (Teach Hunch About You) asks the person a series of questions to find recommendations to the wherever it is, that Hunch thinks is best for you. For a bit more elaboration, go to Tim’s post and learn a little more about this scary but exciting new product.

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

Infographics of The Week #3

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Chromebook, Chrome OS & The Future of the Web

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This is a guest post by Zach Katkin – entrepreneur, web developer, designer and writer – co-founder of Florida Web Design Company Atilus. Additionally Zach also owns a number of web properties including Promana.net, a resource for Small Business Software News including Basecamp Project Management.

I rarely make predictions, but after over a decade in the professional world of web design, I’ve recently seen a convergence of a number of different technologies and companies that are about to drastically (sort of) change the web, and how we operate computers. Before I get to where I believe the future is heading let’s review something:

XHTML & CSS

8 years ago XHTML & CSS were revolutionary. I won’t go into TOO much detail about my past (not that I want to be mysterious, it’s just mostly irrelevant), but I was lucky enough to get into web design with the addition of XHTML & CSS. You see, back then everyone used TABLES to build websites (some still do). The problem with tables was that you had to adjust EVERY page on a website in order to make a change, this took a lot of time, money, and just didn’t make sense.

Those problems all disappeared with the adoption of XHTML & CSS. No longer did a developer have to update every page in order to adjust the design or style of a site. Instead, CSS (cascading style sheets) told the browser what various XHTML elements needed to look like. In one tiny spot, you could define the background of a site, of a column, the color of text, etc. The seperation of HTML (markup/content) & CSS (the design), let to an explosion in web design. There were a few drawbacks (developers had to learn a new way to develop websites and a new way of thinking), but overall it has been a phenomenal change for devs, and site owners alike.

HTML 5 & CSS3

HTML 5 is the latest version of HTML (hypertext markup language) – the language for structuring and presenting content on the web. Most important within the context of this article is understanding the HTML 5 adds a number of new properties, namely APIs that allow your browser and websites to do things that were previously very difficult (requiring a myriad of other technologies to implement):

• 2D drawing
• Timed media playback
• Offline storage database (offline web applications)
• Document editing
• Drag-and-drop
• Cross-document messaging
• Browser history management
• MIME type and protocol handler registration
• Microdata

Where are we heading with all this? There’s a point here… I promise!

The Modern Computer

The modern day computer is [mostly] a means to access the Internet. A majority of users, even power users, use their computer to access online services and applications. And, even in the cases where some users continue to setup and install desktop software, many times that software already has an online counter part that competes with – if not exceeds - the capability of its desktop counter part. From email, through managing an organizations contacts and daily business all the way to managing bookkeeping and finances, there are MANY online tools for individuals and businesses alike.

Enter the Chromebook & Chrome OS

With all of the above in mind Google announced the development of Chrome OS back in 2009 – an operating system (an extension of Google’s Chrome browser) that continued this idea through to it’s final conclusion – THE OS IS ONLY A WEB BROWSER.  There is little to no local storage (no downloading and storing files/music/videos) you simply open it up, turn it on, and visit websites.

Watch This Quick Presentation by Google:

Google’s understood the blurring lines between web applications and their stodgy desktop counterparts for sometime… they pioneered the space with their Google Docs/Apps solution for small businesses (an online document creation/editing/storage tool). The idea of centralizing applications is nothing new. In the early 90′s IBM spearheaded (successfully) the adoption of “thin clients” by many corporate customers whereby an organization would install a giant central server and then computers would connect through cheap terminals.

This is that idea on a grander, more decentralized scale. Now you can open up a Chromebook (the nickname for a computer with Chrome OS installed on it) and, once logging in via their Google Account, instantly be shown a customized experience based on the data in your Google Account – including bookmarks, web apps, etc.

99% of users today need their computer for little more than surfing the web (and using the powerful applications that have sprung up on it) and the Chrome OS is the best solution for these individuals and businesses. While building the Chrome OS Google kept the following in mind:

• Instant-On Technology – Just pop open the lid and it turns on, no more waiting for your computer to start (typically 1.5 minutes)
• Super Small/Fast – Using the latest mobile technology Chromebooks are super fast for web browsing and general multimedia activities
• Inexpensive – This is probably where things will need to change for successful adoption. Chromebook’s which were very recently released, must come down in price. They are currently inline with similar tablet based solutions, but will need to drop in order to become a viable alternative.
• Security – Built from the ground up to be secure, Chromebooks are useless without a Google Account, and can instantly be replaced without ANY fear of your data being compromised.

With all of the above in mind, it’s clear that the future of the modern computer is almost complete cloud adoption, with decentralized software and user data. Instead the computers of the future will connect to the websites users feel best accomplish their tasks and the idea of installing software will be a thing of the past.

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

Chromebook, Chrome OS & The Future of the Web

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3 Reasons Why Using WordPress Will Make You a Better Writer

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The world is slowly (painfully slow in some market sectors) becoming more and more aware of the power of WordPress as a publishing platform for both the large and small businesses. It’s never been more felt in the publishing industry for both the large editorial news publications and the individual publisher and blogger.

What’s been nice though to see is that as the advancement of publishing technologies has steadily increased so has the general quality of writing in the more reputable (and growing blogs). After having worked as a full time employee of NewsCorp (but now a full time blogger – much better, thank you!) and working with many publishers it was a pleasure to see how technology could begin to not only assist in robust publishing but also enhance it.

And one of the standout figures has been WordPress. Here are three reasons I suggested to many of my professional teams and now small businesses that they consider using it over their own home-grown system:

1. Universal

The universal nature of the many WordPress publishing applications allows publishers and writers to have access to their writing palettes and instruments nearly all the time. What happens, as a natural consequence, is people more engaged with their tools and subsequently more engaged with their writing.

How many times have you sat there without a pad and pen (or your iPhone) and said “Dang it! I have a brilliant idea for a blog post!” The challenges increase measureably as you try to move those thoughts into a publishing application to get back online.

[Image: Creative Commons, olivander]

But that challenge is dramatically being reduced with native applications for WordPress giving you the access to your canvas and the world with the click of a button. Writing can happen in real-time and we all know that the more you write the better a writer you become.

But besides the universal nature of the applications and use – let’s talk briefly about how it’s becoming more widely accepted as a tool and key publishing platform? With WordPress steadily growing marketshare this means that more and more people will be using it, become familiar with it, and leverage it more effectively. The outcauses of such use are better tools to complement WordPress, native plugins, and the core application itself.

As WordPress grows the userbase grows. As the userbase grows so does your audience. And if your audience grows then you writing potential (and demands) will become even greater. I’d like to think that your writing will get better as a bottom-line result.

2. WordPress Plugins

Because WordPress is an open source platform it gives developers the freedom to create amazing features that are not native or resident in the base installation. Recently, with the growth of WordPress in the editorial space, a bigger desire to have a toolkit that helps with editorial work is premium.

And the ecosystem around WordPress hasn’t disappointed. Here is one great example of a WordPress Plugin that directly impact your ability to write and write better:

JetPack is WordPress’ own release of a much-heralded robust set of tools that were strictly designed to enhance publishing efforts. For example, one feature is called After the Deadline which can help you check your spelling, grammar, and even style before you hit the publish button. You can customize it to ignore certain phrases that are used systematically and even fine-tune it for your editorial with bias languages, clichés, complex phrases, and even more.

Pretty incredible, right?

Or check out Latex, another powerful piece of Jetpack that allow powerful markup language for writing complex math equations, formulas, and more.

This is just one example of a killer WordPress Plugin that will enhance your writing capabilities as a publisher and it’s all thanks to the WordPress publishing platform.

There are even more than can impact the entire business (like Editorial Calendars) and so the advancements impact not only the contributor but the global organization as a whole.

3.Simplicity

Despite the universality of WordPress, the advancements of the plugin ecosystem, there remains, at the core heart of what WordPress is, a ease of use and simplicity that almost none can compete with.

This is a hard balance to maintain, especially as the voices of passionate users clammer for “more this” and “more that” – but what I admire about Matt Mullenweg (the founder of WordPress) and the team that he’s got around him is that there’s a hard and fast rule that anything they do is for the publisher first – to make sure that publishing content is as easy as possible.

It’s little things like the Full Screen mode that’s native in WordPress that allows you to remove the clutter of all that extra noise in your browser to just type the content the way you want it. The picture below is me using it right now!

Very sleek and effective.

Pleasant, right?

Or another neat feature is the ability to customize your screen options just the way you want it so that you don’t get distracted or unnerved by unused buttons or elements that you don’t need. You can even minimize elements that aren’t used often or make them disappear altogether.

It’s the art of creating a fine and robust product married with usability that WordPress has done time and time again – and it’s only getting better. By using WordPress you will become a better writer because is not only simple but it’s getting more usable every single version.

I hope that you will consider promoting, using, and sharing great blog content that is published through WordPress and have the peace and confidence knowing that you’re using the best darn semantic publishing platform that’s ever been created… so far.

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

3 Reasons Why Using WordPress Will Make You a Better Writer

This is a guest post by John Saddington. He is a Professional Blogger who loves sharing his blogging tips, tricks, tools, and practical teaching covering SEO, WordPress and making money through your blog! You can follow him on Twitter too: @TentBlogger.

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How to Get Freelance Work While Still in School

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Freelancing is becoming more and more popular as a way for students to earn money on the side. If you are actually hoping to go into a career in design, freelancing can also provide a leg up to help you get either better paying gigs after graduation or a full-time gig.

But freelancing when you’re also going to school full time can be tough (note that by ‘school’ we assume the student is studying design at university or college – but we note that some readers might be in high school). If you’re at school, the reality is you will have to handle things a little differently than the average freelancer who’s finished his/her studies.

Starting From Scratch

It’s rare for a designer still in school to have a large portfolio. Whether you’re starting your freelance career in community college or university you may not even have the student pieces that designers who have already graduated can often fall back on. That means that building up a portfolio has to be your first priority, even before actually making money.

Assuming that you already know the mechanics of the type of work that you’d like to take on as a freelancer, you do have a benefit as a student: on the average campus, there are tons of organizations that don’t have any budget for a website, fliers and other design work – but they still have the need. Taking on just a handful of these projects can get you well on the way to having a solid portfolio.

If, however, you aren’t particularly familiar with how to actually do design projects, it’s usually better to start with your own projects, rather than taking the time to learn on something that someone else expects done by a certain date. You can always use projects that you’ve done for yourself in your portfolio, although it’s best to replace them with work done for clients when you’ve got a little more experience under your belt, if only to show people that you’d like to work with in the future that you’re comfortable taking direction.

Managing Both Studying and Working

image via sxs112.tw

A key issue for many student designers is finding a way to handle commitments to classes and clients. Considering the cost of attending college – and the potential issue with parents or others involved in helping you stay in school – making sure that you’re getting good grades and completing all of your school work is usually far more important than earning some money on the side by freelancing. So prioritize your school work.

Only take on the freelance work that you know that you have time for. There are plenty of ways to pick up smaller projects that you can fit in around essays and labs, such as bidding on smaller projects through sites that bring a whole bunch of clients together.

Make the effort to learn about time management and use tools that can help you keep everything on track. It’s not necessary to try out every different project management system out there or build one from scratch – the important thing is not which system you use, but the fact that you use a system in the first place. The same will hold true with keeping books for your business and sending out invoices. After all, just because you’re a student doesn’t mean that you won’t be expected to pay taxes on the money you earn while freelancing.

The Question of Age and Experience

For some students, more so for those in high school than nearing graduation from college, age can be an issue. Even clients who are choosing the cheapest freelancer they can find want as much experience as they can afford. If they know you’re a student, or worse, not even legal to drive yet, they may be a little more wary of working with you.

Unless you’re directly asked if you’re a student, it’s often best to just keep mum on the subject. Employers can’t ask job applicants their age, and freelancers don’t need to confess just how old they are. You don’t need to list the fact that you’re a student on your website and you don’t need to give out your age. Unless there is something very specific on your website or in the way you communicate with a client (like using your school email address), most people won’t even ever ask you about whether you’re a student or not.

Resources to Get Started

• Inspiredm’s Freelance jobs board (new)
• DesignCrowd’s Freelance jobs
• DesignCrowd’s School logo design jobs
• DesignCrowd’s Student logo design jobs
• Logopond’s Inspiration gallery

Try our new job board now!

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

How to Get Freelance Work While Still in School

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50 Inspirational Photography Logos

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If you’re a freelance photographer, or are involved in a photo festivals or studio, there’s no shortage of photography logos to inspire you. Though photographers aren’t logo designers, they are creatives with their own style which tends to be reflected in their logo. Common motifs of photography logos include cameras, lenses, film, viewfinders, frames and tripods. Check out this collection of 50 inspiring photography logos before you set out to create one yourself!

Mel Marie Photography

Dominic Whiten Photography

YouSnap

Silfver Creations

Jaipur Photographer’s Club

Japanize Photo Festival

Straight from the Heart Photography

Fotomaker

Angela Fouquette

PhotoSushi

Kasper van den Broek Photography

Jomaks

Daniel Moyer Photography

FotoFito

SpinShot

Siah Photography

Photocast

Schild Tamas

Dmitriy Barabash

Naz Mulla photography

Nelson Machin Photography

Russian Landscape

Adent Art Photography

Ocean

Sergio Roberto Fotografia

phosmile

Flash Group

Moeys Photography

Global Exposure

Littlest Birds Photography

The Property Image

Luciana Justice

Trudi Le Brese Photography

Bullock Photos

FotoFusion

Gary Pepler

JP Photography

Jayne Taylor Photography

Jade Tinkler Photography

Sixshot Photography

Jennifer Davis Photography

Elias Joidos Photography

Frame Page

Camora Photography

Colour Photography

Jodie Potter Photography

Say Cheese Photography

Ruben Parra photography

Chasing Sky Photography

Clint Shuttlesworth Photography

Conclusion

Did we miss any of your favorite photographer logos? Do you think photography logos could do better by going beyond the tropes and motifs of the field? Let us know in the comments!

Need a photographic design?

Hire Stoian Hitrov, a freelance graphic designer from Bulgaria.

Looking for freelance design work?

Find photographer logo design jobs or photographers seeking a photographer logo maker jobs at DesignCrowd.

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

50 Inspirational Photography Logos

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Infographics of The Week #2

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Thanks to all for a successful first week. I appreciate all of those who read and tweeted the post!

Here are some of my favorite infographics this week. In light of the holidays, I threw a couple holiday related infographics as well. To those celebrating the 4th of July, I hope you spend some quality time with your families and stay safe! Oh, happy belated Canada Day to our fellow North Americans. I’ve also listed one in light of your holiday as well. *wink*

1. Consumerism Stats by Visualoop

Tiago over at Visualoop put together this infographic about consumerism and how much it is that we really spend. Aside from its beauty, I was simply touched by the meaning. I never think twice about throwing things away, whether it’s food, old clothes, etc. This infographic has changed a part of me this week. I was reminded to always be grateful of what I have and to do a better job about the dollars that I spend unnecessarily. Great work, Visualoop!

VisuaLoop

2. Where are all those Canadian dollars going?

In light of Canada Day, Mint put together this infographic about the average Canadian household and where their dollars are going, according to the most recent government data. Check out the different categories and find the province with the highest percentage!

Outdoor World Direct put together this great infographic, paving the way for this weekend’s camper to follow some great rules and tips to having a successful trip! I personally liked this infographic because of that cute litte road. Forgive me for not being a bit more of a design critic, but sometimes, with so much information, it’s hard for people to follow the direction and information in which the design wants you to receive the information. Aside from the numbers, the path was a great way to let people know, “Hey, it’s this way. follow the road.”

4. 4th of July Fun Facts

Last but not least, for those celebrating the fourth of July, I wanted to leave you guys with some fun facts before all the fireworks and BBQ thats about to go down! VA Home Loans put together this infographic, which illustrates some great facts and stats about Americans and how we typically spend the fourth of July. One statistic that popped out at me, “155 Million hot dogs will be consumed over the fourth of July weekend.” Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me! Anyway, check out this great infographic and have a GREAT fourth of July!!

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

Infographics of The Week #2

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Google’s Black Bar & New Look

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This is a guest post by Zach Katkin – entrepreneur, web developer, designer and writer – co-founder of Florida Web Design Company Atilus. Additionally Zach also owns a number of web properties including Promana.net, a resource for Small Business Software News including Basecamp Project Management.

If you’re like me you’re a power user – on the net constantly – you have an account on every sharing and social site, and you jump at the latest technologies – even if they DO flop and they are sometimes less than useful.

Well, over the last couple of weeks Google has slowly been revealing their new design, and it’s mysteriously been marked by Google’s new black bar. If you’ve been following the news Google has made an unbelievable amount of changes and announcements over the last couple of days. Google first released information on their “Facebook Killer” social network called the Google+ project.

Then just hours later, the roll out of the new design was announced and all of this just days ago.

Android is the dominant phone operating system,  chrome is fast becoming the most popular browser, Google.com completely destroys the competition in search – as always Google has been hard innovating and creating new projects and implementing changes.

Back to the black bar – for those of us with Google accounts, the bar is not of much note, it’s been around for years. But, only recently did it switch to black, and really begin to pop.

What is Google’s Black Bar?

Google’s new black bar is simply a new design for the Google interface as a whole, the black bar being the common denominator among many, if not all, google services.  Take a look at the shot I just took:

Simple, elegant, exactly what a good design update should be. I suspect it’s prominence and the new contrast the dark color adds will also help introduce Google’s myriad of services to a whole new audience – as they realize – what that MORE drop down is for!

Google’s New Interface – First Impressions

I’m a HUGE fan of Google’s new interface. I’m not sure if it’s been rolled out throughout the US and the rest of the world at this time, and I’ve noticed a rollout of services over the last few days (starting with the black bar, continuing with a complete overhaul of Maps, and finally seeing Google’s completely redesigned home and search interface).

I’ve wanted to see a complete overhaul since the days of me first stumbling up the talented designer Andy Rutledge and his ideas on Google Redux – a complete design overhaul of Google. Over the years Google has made modest changes, mostly as new features required. As a web designer myself I do understand that sometimes, it’s best to leave well-enough alone, until such time that features and tools have been locked in. Ofcourse this is also a dangerous trap as any website, application, or giant brand – like all of Google and it’s services – are ever-evolving.

With that said however I think now is the perfect time to overhaul the design, creating a unified theme and optimizing the site for speed and simplicity. Where as other sites like Yahoo and Bing are at best overly colored and a reminder of “the old web” and at worst, horribly overburdened with content and imagery that distract from a single purpose – Google’s new interface(s) streamline a visitor’s distractions, keeping single goals in mind – all across different services.

Although mostly cosmetic additional updates including instant search (without having to select the search field on Google’s homepage (google.com) make searching EVEN quicker – how quick can this get? I did hear a Google researcher say his ultimate goal was to have you be walking around and simply utter a search query and magically get results (in your head, auditorily-not a word, visually, etc.). Although that technology may be just over the horizon:

For now Google’s updated interface is a welcomed change that is sure to solidify Google’s stronghold on each industry and service it enters.

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

Google’s Black Bar & New Look

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Popular Methods of Website Navigation

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The design and navigation of a Website appeals to the users more as compared to other things, suppose you visited a famous Retail Showroom in your locality. You observe that the materials of store are not organized at all. You find it difficult to walk in the store as items are scattered even on the floor and the paths are blocked. Would you purchase anything from such a place? No, instead you’ll leave the store at once. The same incident can happen with your Website if its navigation is not defined properly. The Website Navigation should be self explanatory to every visitor so that he/she can understand the Website’s layout and get the desired information easily. In this write up, we’ll throw some light on the famous Website Navigation Methods being used these days.

Horizontal Navigation

This is one of the most common and widely adopted navigation systems. The text/icon links are placed horizontally and clearly separated from each other in one row. The user can click on any item to visit its Web page.

Horizontal Navigation Layout at Apple.com

In Horizontal Navigation, you’ve to limit the number of links to be added. However, you can use this navigation for drop-down menus discussed later in this article.

Vertical Navigation

In this form, the text/icon links are arranged vertically. They are either placed in left hand sidebar or in right sidebar. Placing the options in left sidebar is considered to be outdated these days. We suggest you to use Vertical Navigation as a secondary navigation method and use it on the right hand side.

An example of Vertical Navigation from open-comms.com

You’ve seen various blogs showing text links arranged vertically in the right/left side bar. This is another form of Vertical Navigation. The best part is that you don’t have to limit the number of links/objects in it. You can add n number of objects in Vertical Navigation with a scroll bar.

Drop-down Menus

Suppose you’ve arranged your Websites in order of categories and sub-categories. Now, how you will arrange the Website navigation in a self-explanatory. The best way is to use drop-down menus. You can arrange the drop-down menus either horizontally or vertically. However, this format should be familiar for the users.

Horizontal Drop-down Menu example from Puma’s Online Shopping UK Website

Vertical Navigation Drop-down Menu System from Porshe USA Website

Tabbed Navigation

Suppose you’ve to provide a wide variety of information but you’ve limited space. You don’t want the visitors to visit the different pages for a similar type of information what will you do. The similar problem arises with Internet Explorer 6 as its users have to track all the opened windows to gather information on a single type. That’s why they come up with Tabbed Browsing. You can use Tabbed Navigation in your Websites and build tabs to arrange similar information without creating different pages. We suggest you making use of Adobe SpryTabbedPanels Framework to create the tabbed navigation. You can either go for Horizontal Tabs or Vertical Tabs.

Horizontal Tabbed Navigation at http://365daysofastronomy.org/

Vertical Tabbed Panel at http://www.districtsolutions.co.uk

Almost each user is familiar with the Tabbed Navigation in software and browsers. So, the users get a feel at home while navigating through tabs. They know from where to start and where to go to get relevant information. If you’re not using pre-existing code to create the tabbed panels then it may take weeks to code them.

Breadcrumb Navigation

This is another famous secondary navigation system. It allows the visitors to keep track of their locations while visiting different, but related sections of the Website. The Breadcrumb Navigation can have both text/image links arranged horizontally or vertically in the order: Home > Section > Sub Section > Sub-Sub Section. Windows Vista and Windows 7 are using this navigation within the Address Bar in Windows Explorer. In addition, the advanced GPS applications are using this navigation.

Breadcrumb Navigation used in Windows 7

Guided Navigation

It is also known as Faceted Navigation. The filters of different options are provided on the Web page in this Navigation System. The visitors can use these filters/lists to get the desired & customized information. The Guided Navigation is mostly used at e-commerce or shopping Websites as it allows users to tailor their shopping experience and get the things, which they’re looking for. If the provided options are limited to customize the search the users can get confused. So make sure to provide all the options valid for your product while using Guided Navigation.

An example of Guided Navigation at Porshe.com

Tags Navigation

Tags are the META data referring the keywords used in a Web page. The tags are widely used in Blog and News articles. In fact, tags are used to inform the search engines about the keywords used on a page. However, the visitors can also use them. These tags are either created in Flash animated or static HTML clouds.

Animated Tag Cloud

Static Tags in a Widget at Sidebar as shown at sunblognuke.com/blog

Search Navigation

The navigation through search box is not new to us. You’ll notice a search box at each Website you visit. This box enables you either to search within the Website or at World Wide Web. You can enhance the Search Navigation at your Website by using the APIs of Google, Ask, Blekko, Twitter Search, and Bing.

An example of Search Navigation at Zappos.com

Footer Navigation

Footer Navigation is mostly used as a secondary navigation system on any Website. Basically it has the links or icons in the footer and this footer remains similar across the whole Website.

An example of Footer Navigation at seo-semantic-XHTML.com

Sitemap

As the name depicts, Sitemap provides a complete map of your Website. You can either arrange it using bullets in nested levels or through organizational charts. The visitors can use the sitemap to have a quick glimpse of your Website and know how many pages/sections you’ve on the Website.

Sitemap at linkbuildingworks.com

Conclusion

The Website Navigation System is an integral part of a Website. It not only helps to keep the visitors engaged but enables him to find the relevant information and importantly helps the search engine robots to crawl your Website efficiently.

This is a post from Inspired Magazine. If you like it, you may want to subscribe to our RSS full feed to be updated on every article we’re publishing. Also, it’s highly recommended to follow us on Twitter!

Popular Methods of Website Navigation

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From New URL to Full-blown Website in 5 Minutes?

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Having a relatively popular blog is quite challenging as you have to come up with new stuff every day, be consistent and all that so it’s kinda hard to launch big side projects. That’s why our most important project took around 12 months to be developed but it’s almost ready to help you build fast websites and will rock your designer & developer socks off!

What is 5minSites?

The easiest way to start your online presence with a new URL, premium hosting for 12 months and customized web design! Oh, and you’ll get all this in less than 5 minutes!

Is this even possible?

Yup, although Steve Jobs would tell it’s MAGIC!

When do you launch?

We’re adding the last few features to the app and the beta version should be done by the end of June!

Is it free?

No, this can’t be free as it implies registering a new URL, hosting for 12 months and customizable web design, But we priced it like all the apps we use every day - incredibly affordable for its value!

How do I get to use it?

Because it’s pretty innovative and it needs a lot of resources, during the beta version we have to limit access to 1,000 people who subscribe on our teaser page so be sure to get there fast.

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From New URL to Full-blown Website in 5 Minutes?

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