Just imagine having to go into a grocery store but nothing is labeled on the items or the aisles, or maybe they simply do not make any sense: the bread aisle labeled “carb smudges,” the frozen veggie aisle labeled “Frosty Flora.”
It would likely get pretty frustrating having to walk around hunting for the items you want; in fact, you might just choose to leave. It’s the same with your main navigation on a website: it’s the means by which visitors find what they are looking for.
The layout, page structure, and titles that you choose to use within your main navigation make a big difference in how well your website will work.
Ahead you’ll learn the best practices in setting up your website’s main navigation – what are the common mistakes to avoid, what’s the best layout for your navigation, which pages should you include, and how to title your navigation links.
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Common Web Navigation Mistakes
First, let’s talk about some common mistakes people make with their website navigation.
One issue is having too many links. The temptation to provide many options can be great, but too many links can make your navigation cluttered and often impossibly difficult for people to find what they’re looking for.
The other problem is long navigation titles. While “everything you ever wanted to know about Ben” might seem descriptive, a simple “About Ben” works just as well and takes up far less space.
Related: What to know about above the fold for website design.
Too many links, or long titles, can also make your navigation break onto multiple lines; this makes layout confusing.
Another mistake is to use fonts that are hard to read or colors that are too similar. Sure, Papyrus is a really fun and quirky font, but it’s really tough to read.
Always stick with clear fonts and colors with good contrast. Lastly, poorly labeled navigation rounds out the list of things to avoid. Weird creative navigation with labels can disorientate people as to where things are.
Best Practices For Navigation Layout
Now, about the layout of navigation. There are a couple of ways you can structure your main navigation such as slide-in navigation, footer navigation, static sidebar, tile navigation, or header navigation. Which is best?
Most people follow a specific pattern in viewing a web page – starting at the top and scanning down and to the right.
Most of the users want to see the main navigation in the header to make navigation easier.
Other ways to enhance user experience are selecting readable fonts, ensuring that text is well-contrasted with the background, and there is enough spacing so the header does not feel crammed.
How Many Links Should You Include
Which pages to include in your main navigation Now, let’s talk about which pages to include in your main navigation. Because your website likely has far more pages than will fit in the header, how do you choose?
Most experts agree that you should have no more than seven links to include in your main navigation. While people like options, too many choices can overwhelm them, making it harder for visitors to find what they need.
To determine which pages to include, ask thyself what do visitors most try to do when visiting your site.
Maybe its to buy a product, to read a blog or to contact you. Hit the sweet spot of seven or fewer links corresponding to the most common tasks.
To determine which pages make the cut, here’s a quick exercise: Take out a sheet of paper and draw two overlapping circles. Label one “Pages visitors are looking for” and the other “Pages I want visitors to find.”
The pages that fit into both circles are good candidates for your navigation, but especially the ones that belong to both categories.
What Should You Title Your Links
Finally-let’s focus on titling your navigation links. Good titles are those that create a seamless user experience because they use labels that visitors expect.
In most cases, conventional naming works best. If it’s an about page, call it “About.” If it’s a blog, title it “Blog.” Of course, you can still be creative, but without sacrificing usability.
Instead of “About,” you could have “Meet Ben, or “Weekly Journal” instead of “Blog.” If you sell learning products, you might title the products page “Learning Resources.”
You could also use instructional navigation to give visitors clear actions to take. On Emily Mills’ website, courses.sketchacademy.com, her main navigation includes “Start Here,” “View All Offerings,” and “Join the Community,” which perfectly aligns with the user intent.
Your navigation should always be laid out and titled with the user experience in mind. If a visitor can easily find what they need, they’re more likely to explore your site, sign up for your newsletter, or purchase your products.
In the next section we will go into more depth about “Start Here” pages and how you can use those to route visitors to precisely the information they need.
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