Sitemap Menu Levels

All menu items in your sitemap should be accessible within a few clicks by the user. The menu should provide users with guidance about where to find information on your website.

Main menus

Your websites main menus or top level of navigation will often appear as a ribbon at the top of your website. These topics should be fairly broad, and clearly explain the topics or pages that will appear in each section of the site. 

When selecting the names of your main menus, make sure they are distinct enough to allow users to make a decision about where to look. For example, if there was a top menu called "Services" and another called "Departments" this might present an issue for users as they will struggle to make a decision about where to find information.

Parent pages

Parent pages display once a user selects one of the main menu items like “Living Here.” They should always be placed in alphabetical order for easy scanning. This can make it easy for users to scan the list of options to find the information that is relevant.

When naming parent pages, you should avoid:

• Leading with verbs
• Placing your organization's name at the start of each parent page

Here are some examples of good and bad names for parent pages.

Some parent pages will have subpages beneath them. They should clearly broadcast the sub child pages that appear below.

Child pages and grandchild pages

Child and grandchild pages won’t appear in the menu’s drop-down (unless you are using the Multi Level Menu) and tend to be more focused. Placing these pages in alphabetical order is still the safest method of organization. These pages should be specific and align with visitor tasks, specific services, or actions that a user needs to take. For example:

• Paying Your Property Taxes
• Report an Issue
• Register for a Recreation Program

Grandchild pages should appear rarely on the sitemap as most website content should be accessible within a few (2-3) clicks of a mouse.