When it comes to website design, menu navigation is of paramount importance because it helps visitors find content. In fact, visiting a website means navigating it with ease. It should be a simple, intuitive and, most importantly, a great experience. Unfortunately, not all sites have a stable navigation system. Those sites fail because user-friendly navigation is an essential aspect of a great website. Hopefully the following information will simplify the essential website navigation tips that you should consider.
1. Make use of descriptive navigation. When you use descriptive text in your website navigation, SEO and conversions come into play. Being descriptive by using key phrases is a great strategy for search engine rankings as well as your website visitors. Since your navigation appears on each page, your descriptive label can demonstrate to Google that your site knows how to tackle the topic.
Moreover, having descriptive navigation helps you communicate to your visitors instantly. When you’re able to list your products and services, visitors will know with one glance what your company does. Consider your main navigation a venue through which you can tell visitors and search engines what you really do.
2. Avoid drop-down menus. While using drop-down menus has been popular in web design, over-using them will never be a good idea.
- When you apply drop-down menus to your website, visitors have a tendency to skip essential pages, thereby decreasing the odds of your visitors hitting the pages you want and making conversions.
- Practically speaking, avoiding drop down menus has been a smart move in website navigation. Since these types of lists can be challenging for search engines, getting rid of them may not lead to problems.
- Also, navigating a drop-down menu is only a hiccup for visitors and can be very annoying to use.
3. Consider the order of your website navigation. When talking about website navigation, both number and order of items matter. In fact, placing important navigation items at the beginning and the end of a list can be a useful strategy, because doing this will get the attention of the visitors. They are also more likely to remember prominent items at the top and bottom of a short list. This is a standard practice in content marketing and web design.
4. Decrease the number of menu items to seven. If you are looking for best results, your website should be designed carefully and strategically. This means limiting the number of things in your main navigation so the list is easy to skim and visitors can quickly see all their navigation options. Avoid long lists and take time breaking them into strategic groups that lead to important interior pages.
Keep in mind that your homepage is an authority source since more sites link to that than your interior pages. Unfortunately, if your homepage has tons of links, your interior pages will potentially not rank well with search engines. After all, a concise navigation system allows more visitors to flow to inner pages, thereby making those pages more likely to rank in search engines.
5. Keep away from format-based navigation. It’s important to note that visitors go to websites to look for answers and information. The reality is they don’t visit sites for videos or white papers. When your labels are more of a format type than descriptive, that is not a helpful navigation for your visitors.
In the end, what you must keep in mind is the idea that users are interested in a specific topic and they usually don’t mind the kind of format in which the information will be provided to them. They are more concerned about searching for answers to their questions; that’s why they visit your site in the first place.
6. Consider using sticky navigation. To make visiting a worthwhile experience, you can consider using sticky navigation, which is locked so it will not disappear when you start scrolling down the page. This kind of navigation makes searching more straightforward and more comfortable.
7. Take note of user-friendly language. Apart from other factors mentioned earlier, it’s also vital to think about menu navigation language. As you try to get creative with your writing, it shouldn’t be done at the expense of clarity.
- When it comes to language, make sure you write your text in a way that users will easily understand.
- Also, be sure your text doesn’t leave any room for interpretation, as this will only lead to problems. Keep your navigation simple.
Navigation may only be a small part of website design, but it’s worth keeping in mind that little things can make a huge difference. The way you design your navigation can either positively or negatively impact your results. Ideally, good navigation can increase traffic and conversions.
With the essential tips presented in this material, we hope you’ve got some ideas that will help you successfully design your new website. If you’re in need of a full-service internet marketing firm that can help you with your web design and navigation, you don’t need to look further than U-Thrive Marketing.
Bill Sheikh
I am the founder of U-Thrive Marketing, Tulsa’s premier online marketing and website development firm. I have helped hundreds of businesses across Oklahoma and the rest of the US put their business on the map online. I specialise in generating more customers for the businesses I work with by utilising proven online marketing tactics such as SEO, PPC & Social Media marketing. I also have a team of experts that work on my team that specialise in website development, website design and graphic design. I have also been personally featured on many national and local publications related to online marketing.