Start by identifying what each audience needs to know or do on your website. Use this to decide which pages you need, how to group related information and what to call each section. Several audiences may need the same information. Others will need specific guidance or instructions. A useful structure accommodates both, helping visitors find what they need without having to understand your organisation’s teams or programmes.
Organise your website around what visitors need to find or do. Create separate audience sections when a group needs enough distinct information to justify its own section.
Use audience needs to decide which pages you need
List your main audiences and what each needs from your website. Go beyond naming the group. A prospective volunteer may want to find a suitable role, understand the time commitment and learn how to apply. Those needs tell you what information to provide. Check your assumptions against enquiries, conversations with visitors and any relevant website data. Compare the information different audiences need. Funders and potential partners may both want evidence of your impact, while volunteers need specific application instructions. For each proposed page, write down what it will help someone understand or do and who will use it. Keep closely related information together when it helps someone complete the same task. Create a separate page when a subject needs a fuller explanation or the instructions differ. Group related pages into sections before deciding which sections belong in the main menu. This gives you a structure based on the content visitors need.
Share common information and separate different instructions
People seeking support and professionals making referrals may both need to understand a service, while requiring different instructions on how to access it. Keep shared details, such as what the service provides, where it operates and who is eligible, on one main page. A separate professional referral page can focus on referral requirements, the process and what happens afterwards, with a link to the shared service information. One dedicated page may be enough for a particular audience. A whole section becomes useful when that group needs several related pages of distinct information. Short summaries can explain why a linked page is relevant. Avoid copying full service descriptions into several places, as the versions can become inconsistent when details change.
Choose menu labels that tell people where to go
A menu label should help visitors predict what they will find when they select it. “Make a referral” describes a specific task. A familiar service name can help visitors explore the support you offer. “For professionals” may suit a section containing several pages of guidance specifically for that audience. Be careful when dividing the menu by audience. Someone may be both a parent and a professional, or may be visiting on another person’s behalf. They should not have to guess which category contains the information they need. Nielsen Norman Group’s guidance on audience-based navigation explains these difficulties and the circumstances in which audience sections can work. You can combine service, task and audience labels where each offers a clear choice. If two labels seem to promise the same information, reconsider their wording or how the pages are grouped.
Put important links where people need them
Your main menu helps visitors find the website’s major sections. Prominent buttons can draw attention to actions such as requesting support or donating. Links within a page can guide someone to relevant details or instructions. When several teams want their work featured, consider what visitors need to reach and where they are likely to look for it. An important action may deserve a visible button on a relevant page without needing its own main-menu item. Consider how often people need something, how urgent it is and the consequences of being unable to find it. Access to essential support may deserve prominence even if relatively few people use it. Your organisation’s goals also matter, but visitors need to understand why an action is relevant to them. Some visitors will arrive directly on a service page through Google or a shared link. Include the relevant referral, contact or application links there so they can continue without returning to the homepage. For guidance on making individual pages clear, see how to make your website easier to understand.
Test whether visitors can find the information they need
Before committing to the design, test your proposed sections and page names with people from your intended audiences. Give them something specific to find, such as the time commitment for volunteering, without telling them which section to choose. Let them explore without guidance. Observe where they look first, which labels cause uncertainty and whether they reach the right page. If they take a wrong turn, ask what they expected to find there. Testing a simple hierarchy of section and page names, without the website’s visual design, is called tree testing. The Interaction Design Foundation’s guide to tree testing explains how it can reveal problems with grouping and labelling information. Include tasks for different audiences. Use what you learn to rename sections, move pages or reconsider groupings, then test the revised structure. A few informal sessions can reveal useful problems, but cannot reliably tell you what proportion of all visitors would succeed. Once the website is built, check it again. The final design, mobile menus and links within pages also affect whether people can find information and complete tasks.
Unsure which pages your audiences need or how to organise them? Grinning Graphics can help you plan the content, group related pages and design clear routes to important information and actions.