The rest of the building industry has followed their Web site design and function lead, but many toolmakers still hold the high ground. The best tool sites provide quick access to products, clear and simple navigation, fast-loading pages, online product manuals, and useful images. They offer warranty, service, and parts information. Manufacturers with less-evolved sites seem to forget that a Web site is a tool and it, too, must work and feel right. The lesser-developed sites are tricky to navigate.
Some sites have no distinct navigation at all.
Others run navigation bars horizontally across the tops or down the sides of their pages. One site stuck the navigation bar way down near the bottom of the home page, requiring users to scroll down to find it. Most of the big boys' sites wisely offer left-side vertical navigation bars and supplemental ones across the top. Site maps are important. Even some smaller manufacturers with sophisticated sites and varied offerings use site maps to steer users where they want to go.