A higher branching factor is almost always preferred for index pages, especially if it can save an extra layer that users must traverse. The Yahoo home page has almost 100 links in a compact two-column presentation. Library of Congress home page reflects the changing policies that emphasize the educationally oriented resources of the 200 American Memory special collections. While some white space can help organize a display, often webpages contain harmful dead space that lengthens the page without benefit to users. A typical mistake is a single left-justified column of links that leaves the right side of the display blank, thus forcing extra scrolling and preventing users from gaining an overview.
Users expect the first item in a page to be an important one and are likely to select it.
Clustering related items shows meaningful relationships. More important items can be emphasized with large fonts, color highlights, and surrounding boxes. In the Library of Congress homepage, the American Memory collections were emphasized by placing them first and giving them a large fraction of the space.