Sitemaps are like Marmite (Ed: yeast extract spread that divides opinion, very popular in the UK). You either love them or hate them. OK maybe you don’t ‘love’ them but they do seem to create an obvious divide between those that use them and those that don’t. I rarely use them but they are part of my day job and that got me wondering, what are the good, the bad and the ugly examples of sitemaps.

As well as looking at sitemaps in relation to those three criteria I will also discuss Google sitemaps, a whole new world for sitemaps.

The Good

Let’s start off on a high note. Sitemaps are a safety net. They can be a last resort for users before they abandon ship and leave your site having not found what they needed and vowing never to come back.

Another advantage in line with the above is that they are often the only full overview of your site (depending on the size and scope of it). All of the pages may be listed in the main navigation but if this is structured using drop-down menus for sub pages then your sitemap remains the only full overview and therefore serves an important purpose.

Much has been written on the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) advantages to having a sitemap. They are cited as being a good method for getting your site listed on search engines and if you use Google Sitemaps it provides details of errors within your site such as broken links. Of course, there are other SEO methods so the advantages of having a sitemap for this purpose alone are perhaps questionable.

For me, as a Project Manager, sitemaps are useful for scoping projects when providing costs to potential clients and they are valuable when a project kicks off and the project team and client come together to discuss the information architecture of the site. In my experience, they also help some clients better understand the importance of how content is grouped, the hierarchy and the links between content.

Last and by no means least, sitemaps are simply helpful to some and no harm to others who choose not to use them. Let’s not assume everybody is adept at using the web, some people need more help than others and a sitemap can be the helping hand they need.

Before I move on to discuss the bad and the ugly, the sitemap on the Apple website (pictured above) is one of the better examples of one I have seen, many sites could learn a lot from this.

The Bad

No rose is without its thorn and unfortunately many sitemaps and prickly things. Let’s be blunt, most sitemaps are difficult to use. This can be because of the way they look or because of their sheer size. There is some sort of irony in sitemaps being difficult to use isn’t there?

Another solid argument for the slaying of sitemaps is that if a website is designed well with considered thought to navigation and information architecture then the user will have no difficulty in finding what they want and therefore a sitemap isn’t necessary.

This raises the question of at what point will user’s look at a sitemap? I already mentioned that they can be a last resort safety net, perhaps when there is no search function on the site but that again is linked to the design element. Include a search function and not a sitemap. Cover all bases perhaps and have both?

Depending on the site in question, if your content/structure is changing regularly then your sitemap will need to be amended in line with this. This can be a time suck but if ignored it will mean your sitemap is inaccurate so you might as well not have one anyway.

The sitemap for the Cardiff Council website is so big that it becomes impossible to use. It is a rather huge list that uses dots to represent the hierarchy. It would benefit enormously from having the sections divided up like the Apple example and thus making it easier to find what you are looking for.

The Ugly

Finally, let’s look at one ugly sitemap that suffers at the same hands of many others, it is too big to be both pretty and usable.

The Google way

And so to Google sitemaps. They differ from the standard visual sitemaps like the ones discussed above. Google sitemaps is a protocol that is an XML based system which helps Google crawl your site. It is seen as being one of the best ways to get a search engine to learn about your entire site, though it is by no means a guarantee of being indexed.

A lot of CMS’s have plugins and there are numerous code libraries to generate these. If you are savvy with XML you could use this approach to not only keep Google happy but to also generate a HTML version.

Over to you

What do you think? Are sitemaps good, bad or ugly? I’m sure there are many more pros and cons to this topic so please share them in the comments below.

We live in a world saturated with stories, then one day along came the web and suddenly anyone could design, write for and contribute to a mass of websites, and storytelling got lost in the mix.

This needn’t be the case though. Storytelling is the most powerful way of organising and communicating information so it lends itself nicely to the web, we just have to think of more appropriate ways of telling stories online and this can be achieved in several ways.

Know your story and your audience

Don’t assume you know your audience. Invest the time in finding out who is visiting your site and what their goals will be. Once you know this you can think about the story you want your site to tell.

For a small design studio for example, it might be the story of how the company came to exist and the work they do and the people they do it for. Every business has a story to tell.

When you are clear about the audience and story you will be able to tell it in the most appropriate way.

Vital to any project is thinking about the story at the beginning, it is too late when you reach the end or when design visuals are signed off, the story should be part of the process from conception to implementation.

The words you use and how you use them

Once you know your audience and story you can then convey this literally in the words you use. There doesn’t have to be a strict narrative but consideration to the actual words, the tone of voice and accounting for any cultural, political, or social factors will help with your storytelling.

However, with the web we often have to be succinct in our copy and tone of voice can be misinterpreted or hard to convey so the second strand to storytelling on the web is the design itself. For designers they have a story to show as well as one to tell.

Designing the story

Branding

If you have a brand or are developing one as part of your project then it can help tell the story. Key to branding are business goals and how they wish to be represented.

Typefaces, logos and colours communicate all of this, and at the heart of it all are the brand values.

Typography

Typography is also an invisible communicator. Different typefaces connote different meanings and values.

You only have to look offline at the mastheads of newspapers to see how their typefaces are representative of the type of reader.

Colour

Colour is an extremely powerful communication tool. Colours can have cultural, political and social meanings behind them and the moods and qualities that they connote can help tell your story.

If you are writing a case study relating to a project you did for a local farm shop for example, then colours linked to nature such as green and brown would help in your storytelling.

Ed: For more on how colour can communicate meaning read Rob’s article from October 2009

Signposting

Signposting is an article in itself but having signposts throughout your site that will help the user navigate and achieve their goal, is all part of telling your story.

It is important that your user knows where they are (the present), where they have come from (the past) and where they are or can move to next (the future). These three tenses are also linked to the old adage that every story has a beginning, middle, and an end.

Imagery

Imagery, when used in the right way, can tell far more than many words. If you choose the right image and put it in the right context then this can enhance your story.

Storytelling

Storytelling is the best way to emotionally connect to people. We all have stories in common so instead of listing facts and figures on your website, tell the story behind them. Instead of listing projects and clients, tell the story behind them.

An advantage to storytelling on the web is that because of the interactive possibilities and the fact that user’s can enter your story at different intervals, you don’t need a linear narrative, you can get creative, and that is after all one thing that both stories and the web needs, creativity.

A complex weave

If we think of all the individual elements discussed above as the thread, when we weave them all together we end up with the story. There are more strands to this than my word limit will allow me to mention so if you have your own storytelling process or ideas then please share them in the comments below.

Writing for the web is a challenge. There are usually word length restrictions, the fact that users scan rather than read every word, and sometimes style guides to adhere to.

There are enough writing tips online to keep you reading for longer than you probably desire. Here are 1o tips that have been the most useful to me:

1. Know your audience

   This sounds obvious but is often taken for granted. The only way you can write relevant copy that is targeted at the right audience in the right tone of voice, is to understand who that audience is. Depending on where your audience are located, you may have to include local expressions or if writing for a wide audience be specific with things such as dollars. If it is US dollars then say so. If it is Cardiff in Wales then say so as there is also a Cardiff in New Zealand and other countries.

2. Decide why you are writing?

   Linked to the previous tip, as well as knowing who you are writing for you need to know why you are writing for them. Is it to get them to register, persuade them to buy something, deliver information to them or get them to subscribe to something?

   Your answer to this question should determine what you write.

3. Headlines

   A well thought of and clear headline can generate four times the interest of a poor one. Headlines shouldn’t be longer than 7 words and should be written in the present tense.

4. Upper case

   Avoid the use of ALL UPPER CASE in your copy as it takes 57% longer to read. Also avoid starting every word with a capital letter in your headings.

5. Choose the right words

   Certain words can hold the reader’s attention whilst others can turn them off. Words that people like include thoughtful, imagination, progress, and ambition. Less popular words include dispute, failure, weak, and extravagant.

   Use contractions. That is, use ‘you’re’ instead of ‘you are’ and ‘doesn’t’ instead of ‘does not’. Whilst some are of the opinion that the contractions are bad English, they do make the copy less formal and more conversational which is often the tone of voice and style that is required on the web.

6. Acronyms

   Avoid using these if possible. It would be careless to assume that everybody who visits your site will understand the meaning of any acronyms you use. However, this is linked to knowing your audience. The same rule here applies to jargon, avoid as best you can, cutting out any unnecessary complexities.

7. Punctuation

   Minimise punctuation as best you can. Punctuation marks can be difficult to discern on screens, especially semi-colons, so try using commas or shorter sentences instead.

8. Effective Hyperlinks

   Your hyperlinked words tend to stand out against standard copy so should be relevant and motivate the user into carrying out an action. I don’t like ‘click here’ but if this is used, it is more effective to use it along with some contextual information, so ‘click here to apply for a loan’. This way the user knows exactly where they will be led.

9. The right length

   Keep your sentences short. If they are too long then reader’s interest will dip and your message will become muddled. One rule of thumb is that sentences should be between 15 and 20 words long. Please don’t count all my sentences in this article, just in case I broke the rule!

   Paragraphs should be no more than 5 lines of type long, or in depth. Also, a good measure to abide by is that there should be no more than three sentences per paragraph.

   Make your copy digestible by using sub sections, headings and lists where appropriate. If you do use lists try not to have more than 6 items in each one.

10. Proof read

    Another obvious point but not always one that is carried out. Proof reading and editing should be a matter of course when it comes to writing. If a user is deep in your text and spots an error it will immediately break the connection between them and your site.

They are some of my favourite tips. If you have any of your own then please share them in the comments below.

Colour is a powerful and important communication tool, and it is tied to religious, cultural, political and social influences.

By stopping to consider what each colour represents and is linked to in the ‘real world’ we can make informed design decisions that ensure we appeal to our target audience. Without this consideration we run the risk of offending the very people were are designing for.

[Notice: Learn more about colour and design processes at The Future of Web Design New York City on Nov 16-17]

#1 It Affects your Mood

Most of us have a favourite colour or prefer some colours over others. This is because can affect our moods so we surround ourselves in the colours that have a positive impact on our mood.

Red can boost your energy, yellow often makes people feel happier, and blue is proven to bring down blood pressure and slow your heart rate which is why it is often associated with being relaxing. If you combine the happiness of yellow and the relaxing feel of blue you get green, a very pleasing colour for many people.

Mental health units are known to use pastel tones on their walls so that patients feel calm, happy, and relaxed. Walls that are beige with a pink tint combined with mint green floors are a popular combination as it is said to create a soothing, harmonious and calm area. At the other end of the spectrum, literally, schools tend to user bright colours that appeal to children.

When choosing colours for your next design it is important to consider how they will combine and sit with the other elements on the page and what impact that will have on the mood of your audience.

#2 Colours Communicate Invisibly

Wassily Kandinsky was one of the first pioneers of colour theory. A renowned Russian painter and art theorist, he is often considered the founder of abstract art. Kandinsky believed the following colours communicate the following qualities:

• Yellow – warm, exciting, happy
• Blue – deep, peaceful, supernatural
• Green – peace, stillness, nature
• White – harmony, silence, cleanliness
• Black – grief, dark, unknown
• Red – glowing, confidence, alive
• Orange – radiant, healthy, serious

#3 Colour has Cultural Significance

Different colours mean different things in different places. This is extremely important for designers to know because without an awareness of the cultural significance of a particular colour, you risk offending your entire target audience.

Purple for example is a colour of mourning in Thailand. In western culture however, it is associated with royalty, luxury, wealth and sometimes magic. The brand colour for Thai Airways is purple. On first glance this seems like a huge error on their part because as mentioned above, purple is a colour of mourning in Thailand.

It is most likely however, that the Thai Airways website isn’t aimed at locals but at tourists, therefore if westerners view the site and see purple it will associate Thai Airways with values such as luxury and comfort.

Other examples are:

• In western cultures black is a colour of mourning
• In Japan however it is a colour of honour, with white the colour of mourning
• Red in the west represents danger, love, passion
• In India it is a colour of purity, in China it is a colour of good luck and in South Africa it is a colour of mourning
• Yellow represents courage in Japan, mourning in Egypt and hope in the West

#4 Colour can be Inspired by our Surroundings

We live in a colourful world, a world that acts as the perfect inspirational trigger for design. The best thing about looking to the environment for design solutions is that the palette is always changing, from autumnal oranges to cold winter blues. So where better to look than out of your window, take in the colours and then apply them to your designs.

Drawing inspiration from nature for your designs also makes you look at the world differently. Normally we whiz by from place to place but you notice the finer details and undiscovered gems when you actually stop to take it in.

#5 Colour has Political Associations

Individual political parties are associated with one colour or another. Depending on whom your audience is, this might prove to be valuable information when designing.

The association between political parties and colours isn’t a new connection but it is often taken for granted. In the UK for example the following pairings exist:

• Labour – Red
• Conservative – Blue
• Liberal Democrats – Yellow
• The Green Party – Green

If a colour is representative of a political party then the values and behaviours that the party is known for can be suggested through the use of this colour.

• Red is often linked to socialism and communism
• White has links to pacifism and the surrender flag. In contrast to this, black is a colour that is used in conjunction with anarchism.
• Working class Nazism is associated with the colour brown as the SA were known as the ‘brownshirts’.

A design with one of these colours as the dominant shade may well hint at a right wing or a left wing preference or at extreme behaviours.

#6 Religion can be Linked to Colours

As with politics, colours are representative of certain religions. So as not to unintentionally offend anyone through your designs, some examples of these colour/religion associations are:

• Green is considered to be the holy colour of Islam
• Judaism is represented by the colour yellow
• In Hinduism, many gods have blue skin
• White is linked to peace across many religions

Again this may only be necessary information if you are designing a site that has specific links to religion but it also emphasises that a thorough knowledge of your audience is a fundamental part of the design process.

#7 Age Affects People’s Colour Preferences

Colour expert Faber Birren carried out many studies into this area and in his book Color Psychology and ColorTherapy, he states that for both genders, blue and red “maintain a high preference throughout life”. He found that yellow is popular with children but as become move into adulthood it shows less popularity. Birren found that “with maturity comes a greater liking for hues of shorter wave length (blue, green, purple) than for hues of longer wave length (red, orange, and yellow)”

Another factor that influences people’s colour preferences is that throughout their life there will be social and cultural changes and this can directly impact on their favourite colours. Some knowledge of what colours certain age ranges prefer can be valuable for designers. If you were designing a website for a toy store or a children’s TV channel, then knowing they prefer bright colours and yellow in particular would help with your design decisions.

Likewise, if you designed a website for a charity whereby the audience was to be the older generation then blue, green or purple might be ideal, based on Birren’s findings.

Conclusion

Colour is a complex subject with many strands and it has the power to subliminally convey values and stories. Please share your thoughts and opinions about colour, in the comments below.