USAToday.com has a popular news Web site. It is the first site I check for national news because the site is easy to navigate, uses a lot of sidebar media, and advertisements don't clutter the page.

On the homepage, headlines capture the attention of the visitor immediately. The pressing stories are seen first with pictures above their headlines. Other headlines continue down the right side of the page. In the top left corner, there are colorful buttons for:

• Home
• News
• Travel
• Money
• Sports
• Life
• Tech
• Weather

Placing color tabs at the top of the page keeps it simple for the visitor. Clicking on these tabs takes visitors to a separate layout according to each heading. A search feature is placed directly at the top of the homepage for viewers to find their stories immediately upon site entrance.

USAToday.com uses excellent sidebar media. For example, the top story for Feb. 19 was about Castro stepping down from leadership in Cuba. The story was front and center with four headlines to click under the top headline: what's next, video, on deadline, White House reacts.

These four headlines enhanced the story by delivering videos, predicting future news and letting readers know what folks at the White House said about the story.

Also, an entire section of the site is dedicated to video coverage.

When I read the news, I want to be able to understand it right away and not have to look up words or sentences I can't understand.Another enhancement to the site's structure is the summary placed under each headline. Other news sites have plain headlines to click. But with the summaries included, the reader can get the idea of the story without having to click the heading and read the entire story.

The writing on this site is descriptive and detailed because it uses strong action verbs and stays away from passive voice. Most of it sticks to the inverted pyramid style with the most important information at the top of the story.

USAToday.com also effectively uses a vast amount of quotes. Many quotes are used to enhance the story and make it more credible because they always attribute their sources.

The writing is precise and to the point; it uses conversational vocabulary so it is easily understood. I hate logging onto New York Times or other upscale news Web sites that use tough vocabulary. When I read the news, I want to be able to understand it right away and not have to look up words or sentences I can't understand.

Although the site contains many links, it could add links within the stories to enhance them.

Because it does not require registration to join the site, it is accessible to everyone. Readers can post comments after the stories and can become members of the USA Today "team" for more features.

The only thing I would change about the site is that it's almost overwhelming. There are so many things to click on, videos to look at and links to other sites that a reader almost has too many options. Sometimes simplicity is the key.