SharePoint for Public-facing Websites (part 3)

In Part 2 of SharePoint for Public-facing Websites we discussed the importance of identifying your audience, and properly aligning your content, design and contextual elements. In this post (part 3) we will expand into navigation and search.

Your users should be able to find your content.  They need to be able to browse through an intuitive navigation structure and find the content they are looking for.

SharePoint provides two tools for managing navigation.  First is a Navigation manager.  This tool makes it very easy for an authorized user to update the navigation.

Navigation should not be static.  Continuously revisit and update your navigation based upon the behavior of your users.  If new trends appear that demand significant attention; your users should be able to easily browse to that content.

Second, metadata driven navigation provides users with the ability to rapidly browse and discover information in Document Libraries using metadata filtering and views.

We’re not talking about Google or Bing.  We are talking about the search box on your website.  Search comes with SharePoint.  It is not an afterthought or a bolt-on solution.  Search is an integral part of SharePoint, and needs to be an integral part of your public-facing website.  Spend time designing the Search experience.  Define the usability.  Search is so important we’ve dedicated an entire chapter on it.

We are talking about Google and Bing here.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of optimizing your site and your content to ensure that search engines list your site as the top results for particular searches.  SEO drives users to your site to find you.

Our next post will cover seven high-level steps to ensuring your SharePoint public-facing website is ready for the Internet search engines.