Have you encountered frustrating experiences when you visit a website that is filled with glitches? You might have been overwhelmed by the experience and decided never to return to the webpage. We’ve all had such experiences with websites that lack proper navigation. Navigating a web page without a defined structure is like trying to find your way through a complicated maze without a map.
Website navigation tops the list of the factors that affect the user experience. In fact, 94% of web users claim that quick access to pages with search features and multiple pathways is a major priority.
Surprisingly, website design navigation is often overlooked since people believe that it is just a table of contents, which doesn’t make a difference. It is, however, the one critical element of the interface behind the overall success of a website. Unreliable navigation will have crippling effects on your business.
Let’s dive further into the details and find out how you can turn a potentially negative navigation experience into a great one for your customers.
Understanding Website Navigation Design And Its Benefits
From a technical viewpoint, website navigation is a compilation of user interface components that simplifies the way users can find content on a website. Navigation and user experience are strongly correlated.
Navigating through a site helps both tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy users see how individual web pages are connected. This understanding is an essential part of the user experience. Consequently, if your website is easy to navigate, visitors will stay on it longer. It also increases the chances of your visitors taking action on your website.
Website navigation design also influences organic traffic. It determines your website’s ranking and how much traffic you can garner from searches. It further impacts conversions. When visitors have a great user experience, there are high chances of them converting into leads and customers.
That said, creating a good navigation system is a job easier said than done. You need to master some best practices for navigation which we have explored and explained below.
Website Navigation Best Practices- What To Do & How To Do It
Assign a place
It’s a good idea to use creativity to enhance navigation. However, going overboard with creativity can hurt the user experience. The navigation will lose its purpose if it’s all over the place. Instead, designate a specific spot on your website for navigation.
Three areas will help your visitors find what they need on your website:
- Sidebar
- Footer
- Header navigation bar
Your visitors will be more likely to find them if you use these spaces creatively. Adding multimedia is an excellent way to be creative. However, make sure your visitors will be able to notice it and click on it easily.
Limit the menu
When deciding the number of items on your menu, always remember that “Less is more”. Website experts say that restricting the menu to only seven items is most ideal for simplifying navigation. Having fewer items is also good for search engines. A smaller menu makes a website easier to crawl for search engines. Search engines link more to your homepage than your interior pages. By making your navigation more concise, each interior page will receive more authority, making it more likely to rank better.
Optimise mobile navigation
Are your website links large enough for mobile users to tap on them? In many websites, this aspect is messed up, resulting in bad navigation for mobile users. Often, the navigation is tightened, or the visitors have to use the hamburger menu. Such unnecessary options will only complicate the user experience.
The best solution is to provide visitors with a mobile-responsive, optimised navigation bar. This step will most certainly boost your mobile conversion rate.
A Mega Footer is a must.
Website experts warn that websites with a complex hierarchy will likely face navigation issues. When users wade through a quagmire of sub-menus, it causes “navigational fatigue”, which is a real thing.
Why complicate things when you can add a mega footer to your website? A mega-footer will have all the important links connecting your web pages. Visitors can easily access the required links using the mega-footer. Furthermore, including this option can also propel your website’s bounce rate and overall conversion rate.
The 3-click rule
As per the principle of the three-click rule, no web page should be deeper than three clicks downwards. This rule is elementary. Most user experience specialists impose it because it enhances a user’s journey within the website. It eliminates unnecessary roadblocks and allows them to reach their destined webpage without hassles. Consequently, the three-click rule improves user satisfaction, which reflects on user experience.
Link your logo
The World Wide Web has an important rule: Your logo should always link back to your main page. No matter where they are within your website, clicking on the logo should bring your visitor back to the homepage. This is the easiest option to take the visitor back to the starting point.
Add search options
Whether it is a content-heavy site or not, your website needs a search option. Remember that a wide majority of your visitors will expect your website to work seamlessly. They will expect a feature to function in a few seconds. A search bar is an optimal solution to refine navigation for visitors with less experience surfing the net. It is one of the most familiar concepts that visitors understand.
Give clear indication
Users may browse through a website and find themselves lost within the labyrinth of web pages. Such a user experience can have adverse effects. What your website requires is something like a subtle breadcrumb trail indicating what page the user is on. This solution is easy to implement. A prominent page title or a textual list of all the visited pages will tell your visitor where exactly they are placed. A simpler solution is to highlight the page they are visiting on the menu. This option will help them backtrack to the main page.
Use descriptive titles
The names on your menu list should be distinctive, clear, and in user-friendly language. Additionally, the contents on each linked page should be listed clearly. It will allow your audience to determine what to expect when they choose to click on a particular link. Distinctive link titles also improve accessibility for visitors relying on screen readers. Finally, do not forget to use keywords. Using keywords in your titles will boost your SEO.
Refine Your Website Navigation With Digital SEO, Nellai
Every single visitor to your website wants a great user experience that comes from seamless navigation. It is only fair that you hand them a well-structured map instead of abandoning them in the maze.
At Digital SEO, our web experts specialise in implementing the best user experience for your websites. We are a leading web design company in Tirunelveli operating with a formidable team of front-end developers, SEO experts and web designers. With their cumulative expertise, they can help figure out the navigational elements required for your website. Team with Digital SEO, Tirunelveli and create an unforgettable website journey for your visitors.
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