Designing for Information Scent →
Logic would say that once a visitor lands on your site, it’s best to have what they’re looking for right on the page, front and center if possible.
But what if it’s not possible? Give them a wiff. If you give the visitor an indication that they’re on the right track, they’ll stick around a click as long as the trail doesn’t get too cold.
I first read about this in When Search Meets Web Usability, whose authors have long advocated the idea. Tyler Tate and H. Stefan Olafsson of TwigKit offer some ideas on how to amplify information scent on a website.
