You'll need to have a clear section of page designated for navigation--one that a visitor will immediately recognize as navigation area when he arrives at site. Navigation should not necessarily be prime focus, but it must be highly visible.

On many sites, main navigation is overly subdued. It sort of "lurks" on page, but it's not kind of thing that really gets to a visitor's consciousness. It gets drowned out because there is too much color or excitement in rest of page.

Occasionally, this is ok. You may have some navigation options, such as a privacy policy, that need to be available, but don't need to be emphasized.

However, aside from those few exceptions, you'll want your navigation to be used. So it will need a voice loud enough to be heard above excitement of rest of site.

Here are 4 tips to make sure your navigation stands out:

1. Put it in a prime spot

It's all about positioning. Give your main navigation good placement at top or left of page.

When visitors arrive at a page, they scan in an orderly pattern from left to right, starting in top left corner and working down page. So if your navigation is at top or on left, it's going to be seen fairly quickly. Also, this is where visitors expect to find navigation, so they'll be primed to notice it there.

2. Use color

Besides size, color is best way to get something noticed on a page. You can use color very powerfully in drawing out your navigation.

A very common technique is to place navigation options on a colored field, on a horizontal bar or a sidebar. This is effective because it creates a strong contrast with other elements on page.

Just remember, brightest, most vivid, most saturated colors will stand out most. You don't necessarily need to use a strong color for your navigation, but you do need to look at how your navigation color mixes with rest of page.