Web surfers are basically an impatient bunch and if a website is hard to figure out because the links are not obvious, they will click away never to return. Navigation of a site is very important when one determines the effectiveness of a website. This article discusses the essence of designing website navigations.
The most important thing about site navigation is that it has to make sense to an average person. There is always room for being creative, but you should also bear in mind that all well-designed sites have pretty much the same navigation layouts.
When you as a web designer design navigational elements you need to keep in mind the purpose of the site and its potential visitors. Majority of sites either inform about products and services or sell them. Therefore there are some basic guidelines to follow:
Make sure all navigational elements are clearly links by using standard conventions for links such as buttons, menus, underlining the text or changing color on mouse. Another important thing is that you do not use too clever or unclear names for links.
If you are using non-standard links tell the visitor that it is a link. For instance, if you are creating a site on which you use a map with several cities marked on it and want allow the user to click on the city name to get more information about that particular city. Remember to inform the users that in order to get more information on that city they have to click the city name.
Remember the “Three Click Rule” which is used by the majority of web designers. Users usually do not click more than three links to get to the information they are looking for. Therefore, make sure that every page of your website can be reached within three clicks.
You should not put any flash movies or other splash pages on your website. It is important that your site is attractive but simple. If you would like to use one, please make sure you also use META REFRESH tag as it will take your visitors to your homepage just after a few seconds and also you need to provide a clickable, easy to spot button or link to allow the visitor to skip the entry page and go straight to your home page as otherwise a huge number of people will leave your website and probably never return. Bear in mind that most visitors are searching for information and not entertainment.
Navigation Element Locations
Top Menus – a top of the page menu bar is usually located directly below the page header graphic that contains the site logo. The item vary from single links to expanding menus to drop down menus. You can use graphic or just plain text to represent each menu item. In ether case a hyperlink is associated with each item that the visitor can click on to get to the information described.
Left Side Navigation – either a column or text area implemented in the left top section of the page. Like the top menu, each item can be a single link or an expanding menu.
Right Side Navigation – right side navigation is not used that often, but when used, it is implemented as a column or text area on the top right side of the webpage. You will find that most website designers use this are for advertisement rather than site navigation.
Bottom Menus – bottom menus can be either a menu bar or footer. Menu bars use both graphics and text links while footers generally use only text links.
Important Navigation Elements
Internal Page Links – Every page on the website should be within two or three clicks from the home page. The visitor to your site should be able to access all the important pages with just ONE click. Which links are prominently displayed will be determined by the type of website.
Login Boxes – these are the example of elements that should be prominently. The most common location for these items is top left or right or inside the page header.
Shopping Carts – if you use a shopping cart, assure that a view cart button is displayed on each page in a special way and is clearly visible. Majority of sites display it in the top right inside the header or just below it.
Order Buttons – you need to make them easily visible and large. The fewer clicks it takes to get to your order page, the more orders you will get.
Breadcrumbs – breadcrumbs are both links and a graphical representation of where you are in the site. The most common location of breadcrumbs is the top left just under the header. Each word is a link back to the previous page. They are in the form
Home-> Articles-> Marketing
External Links – external links can be used anywhere but are most frequently used inside the text areas on a website. They may be references to more information located on another site, to recommended products, or to almost anything else.
Advertisements – these are usually hyperlinked graphic or text. Ads can be put everywhere on your site, and most people place them under the header, at the bottom of the page and some eve within the text areas of the site. Ads which are placed “above the fold” seem to be more beneficial.
(“Above the fold” refers to the area of a page which can be seen without having to scroll).)
Downloadable Items – if you offer downloadable items such as audio, video or pdf files, make sure that you tell the user haw big the file is and whether they need an application to use the file. If they do an application, provide a link to the application. If your site offer pdf files for example, link to the free Acrobat reader.
Site Map – A site map is a good way to layout your entire site for your visitor. (Search engine spyders like them too.It is just a list of all the pages of your website with clickable links to these pages.
Summary
A good navigation system can increase the numbers of pages viewed by each visitor. The increased number of page visited will result in more signups and seals for example and will make your site more successful.