Your website navigation is critical when it comes to increasing sales and conversions. It’s a way to decrease the bounce rate and ensure visitors can find what they want when they want it.
A good rule of thumb is that a visitor should be able to get around your website and find exactly what they’re looking for within three clicks. It’s still important to entice readers with great content and special offers. But it’s important to make the information they seek as accessible as possible. When you implement these website navigation tips, that’s precisely what you’re doing.
Make Sure Top Level Menu Is Clearly Labeled
The main menu on the top of the page should make it clear and easy to find what you’re looking for. If the visitor is in search of a product or service, it should be intuitive for them to search through the menu and be able to find it.
Keep the Drop Downs Uncluttered
There is such a thing as decision paradox. When your visitor clicks on a menu and sees dozens of choices, it becomes easier for them to do nothing. The dropdowns shouldn’t be overstuffed with choices. If you have a lot of menu items, you can organize them into categories and keep the main dropdown easier to manage.
Include a Search Bar
Your visitors know precisely what they’re looking for when they come to your site. With a well-functioning search bar, they can bypass your menu navigation system to find exactly what they’re looking for faster.
Use Call to Action Buttons Throughout the Site
You don’t want to make your readers scroll to the bottom of your site to be able to buy from you. The paragraph of copy at the top of the page may be all they need to read. When you have CTA buttons placed strategically throughout the page, it makes it easier for the reader to take action when they’re ready.
Make Sure Your Email and Phone Number Are Placed Prominently
Your audience may get frustrated if they want to take action but need help finding an address or phone number. Many websites have placed this information somewhere within the header so that the reader can take quick action if they want to.
Pack More Information in the Footers
You may have links to important information that doesn’t fit within the confines of the organizational structure of your menu. Instead of making the menu longer up top, you can link to this information in the footer.
Place Appropriate Links Within the Content
One way to make it easier for your audience to move around is to place hierarchical links within the page content. You can place links to the main menu options on the home page. On category pages, you can place links to specific products or services. This is another way to move around your site.
Double Check the Accuracy of All Links
People must be able to get the page they want with no issues. It’s good to run through your site occasionally and ensure all links are working and operational so that your navigation is working as well as it could be.
Creating a Website Navigation System That Suits Your Business
Website navigation is an often overlooked factor in the user experience. Businesses often take for granted that the customers know exactly where to go and what we want them to do. Instead of taking your customers for granted, building a navigational system that reflects your business objectives is crucial.
If there are competing ideas for how to structure your website content, those can be addressed through A/B testing. This would involve leaving both versions up for a determined amount of time and using analytics to determine which performed better.
Our website design team can help you with user navigation and all things related to user experience. To learn more about your website's navigation system and what can be done to improve the overall user experience, call VisionFriendly.com at (630) 553-0000!
