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The diagram above represents primary labels on the index page. Supplemental navigation system is not shown here but will include sitemaps, indexes, and guides. These are external to the basic hierarchy of a website and provide different ways of finding content and completing tasks. Sitemaps and site indexes are also different in their set up and functionality.
A sitemap is like a table of contents. It provides a broad view of the content in the website and gives access to certain portions of that content. The more levels of hierarchy within a site, the more essential a layout of the structure is for the user.
A site index is like an index in the back of a book. It uses keywords from the site listed for easier user navigation. It doesn’t show structure as a sitemap does because it uses an alphabetical organization. A site index is more for known-item seeking, whereas a sitemap encourages exploration through the sites content.