But the fact is, the most popular sites are the ones that don't ask the user to figure out how they work. No one cares how your site works. They just want to read what you're offering them. You still have plenty of freedom to personalise your navigation structure through use of colour, icons and text-formatting, but keeping to a basic underlying framework will ensure your site is simple to navigate no matter how you dress it up. So when they arrive on yours, it would help them if it worked the same as the sites they know and love.
Familiarity is the key word here.
If the site has a familiar feel to it, the users can be more sure of what they are doing. They feel safe clicking on links, knowing that something unexpected won't happen. They get the feeling of control . I think you see what I'm saying here. And please, do make the visited link colour different from the normal links colour.