Breadcrumbs, intuitive urls and other contextual clues
Breadcrumbs
They have a funny name, but they help your users discern where they are on your website.
You are here: Home > Government > Agendas
The name is an obvious play on the trail of breadcrumbs from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. But unlike the fairy tale, these breadcrumbs are persistent and will not get eaten by birds.
Intuitive urls
Another important contextual clue is the use of intuitive urls. A URL is a uniform resource locator or the address where a given item is found on the internet.
This is a subtle clue that helps your website visitors know what they are likely to find. The address can serve as a clue when you see an address like the following:
http://www.samplecity.com/government/agendas
This is much more helpful to your users than an address like:
http://www.samplecity.com/index.asp?AMID=&Type=&ADID=428
Many website visitors will place their cursor over a link and look at the url the link points to.
