3. Give it space

If your navigation has a lot of clutter around it, it stands a smaller chance of getting noticed. In a busy situation, people do not notice detail. It's very hard for them to pick out specific items. Think about difficulty of trying to find somebody in a crowded room.

Visitors will pick out elements of your page that have most breathing room. So be sure to leave plenty of space around your navigation. Don't let other elements--especially other text--get so close that navigation is crowded out.

4. Separate it from ads

If want your navigation to be noticed, keep it away from ads.

People on web are highly suceptible to "banner blindness". That's a real condition in which people ignore anything that is associated with an ad. Since most people are not fond of ads they try to avoid them. So keep ads and navigation physically separated. Don't let them get mixed together.

Two key pointers: never put navigation above logo. Since banners are frequently located in center of top of page, that's a prime spot to be ignored.

Also, if you have a blank, empty white space between your logo and something on right side of page, be very careful about filling it with navigation. It will be confused with banners simply because of guilt by association.

In addition to physically separating ads and navigation, you should make sure that your navigation doesn't LOOK like an ad. Square or rectangular buttons and images at top and sides of page are especially problematic.

For example, take a look at http://www.sendfree.com. Notice that member login button is not very obvious as navigation. It has an ad-like appearance and it's in an area of page where visitors would expect to see an ad.

Critically evaluate all of your buttons and images to make sure they won't be mixed up with ads. Don't leave any confusion in a visitor's mind about where ads stop and navigation begins.

Position, color, space, and separation from ads. There you have it--four tips for making your navigation stand out.