Visitors should not have to hunt for your navigation or wonder where to find it. If you've done your job right, it will be right there when they are ready for it.

The struggle in creating good navigation is to figure out what type of navigation visitor is going to need, when he is going to need it, and where most effective placement will be.

Basically, you have to anticipate your visitors needs and have a solution ready.

Here are four key areas where you can squeeze out most effectiveness:

1. Global navigation.

Global navigation is a set of links to all main areas of your site that is available on every page of site in same place. Global navigation is a must-have, because it gives visitors ready access to key areas on your site.

If you don't have this type of navigation, visitors tend to get lost. They lose their ability to easily move around between main sections.

When you use global navigation, visitors develop a sense of familiarity with your site because site is consistent. When they need to find something, they know right where to look for it.

Global navigation should be across top of page or down left side, since these two places are where visitors will look first.

Also, it's crucial that global navigation be in first fold of page. This means it needs to be visible in first window visitor sees before they scroll down. Since these options represent most crucial sections of your site, it's imperative that visitors see them immediately. Never put your main navigation below fold.

2. Spotlighted navigation.

On many sites, there are a few navigation options that get spotlight in center of main page. The concept is great--hook visitors with key areas right up front.

However, many people completely miss boat because they focus on wrong links. Frequently, they link to company history or mission statement.

Wrong focus. Visitors don't care.

Do you subscribe to idea that a picture is worth a thousand words--and therefore images, not a lot of text, should be main thrust of your home page? Or do words have more power to capture a visitor's attention and compel them to buy--meaning you should aim for powerful copy?

As a graphic designer, my natural inclination is to create graphically-rich, light text websites. Since I'm focused on what a site looks like visually, I like using impressive images, bold splashes of color all over page, and not very much copy. The end result is an attractive, visually-appealing site, with very few words.

However, I've learned that I have to balance this inclination with a cold hard reality: what appeals to me as a designer is not necessarily same as what visitors need.

The main problem with websites that don't have any copy is that they fail to quickly and effectively communicate three points that all commercial websites must get across: You must explain what your company does, what benefits are of using your product or service, and why prospective customers should purchase from you.

These important pieces of information can only be conveyed vaguely, if at all, through images. While pictures are often very useful in reinforcing a message, it's difficult to succinctly drive home these important points solely through images.