Website navigation is by far one of the most important elements of your online presence. If your website isn’t intuitive and it lacks necessary information, you lose hundreds of potential customers. What can you do to make sure your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate? Let’s have a look.
A website without proper navigation and structure looks messy and disorganised. More importantly, it discourages people from reading it or interacting with it in any way. To improve your website navigation, you have to understand what people want from it. And usually, they need:
- Answers
- Products or services
- Additional information
The goal is to provide them with just that. With intuitive navigation and a well-organised structure, your users can quickly find what they are looking for, thus increasing the chances of closing the deal.
What does website navigation comprise?
There are several elements that affect the navigation of your website. Let’s take a closer look at them:
- Menu: It ought to contain all the subpages and sections on your website. Organise them in a logical order and put your menu in a visible place in the upper part of the website.
- Navigation bar: It’s a form of a menu, although usually, it’s poorer (navbars contain less information, and there are no submenus). Plus, navigation bars are typically located in a different place, typically in a footer.
- Footer: It’s usually located in the bottom part of the website. Footers comprise navigation bars, a company’s location on a map, contact details and, sometimes, additional information, e.g., about the company’s mobile apps or social media profiles.
- Headers: They are a part of every subpage and every blog post on your website. Google uses them to estimate what a specific page is about. They help you organise content in a legible way.
The benefits of having a well-designed website navigation
First off, it allows you to get better visibility in Google (headers are extremely important from the SEO perspective!). Secondly, such a website has a bigger chance of driving more traffic and retaining users for longer. Thirdly, customers that are satisfied with the way your website work will be more willing to recommend you to others and share positive reviews about your business (that’s especially true in the e-commerce world). And lastly, a well-designed website plays a key role in the sales funnel, so when you conduct marketing campaigns, they can be more effective, thus generating more sales.
How to make your website user-friendly
We want to show you a few tips that will make your website more attractive to your users. However, before you start, it’s all about the right mindset. Think about your users and their needs. Put at the forefront the information they need the most. Don’t hide elements that can help them decide to work with you. Start with what matters to your customers, not to you. What else?
- Be descriptive and specific: For instance, avoid empty terms like “products” and “services”. If you offer copywriting services, name this section of your website “copywriting”. If you sell shoes, name this section “shoes” instead of “products”.
- Group items into sections: That’s especially vital when your website has an extensive structure. Instead of creating a navbar comprising tens of entries, group them into major categories so that finding the necessary information would be easier.
- Add a search bar: Again, that’s also important when it’s easy to get lost in all the products and services on your website. It’s a must-have for every online store.
- Don’t forget about mobile users: Over 50% of Internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Ensure the mobile version of your website is transparent and easy to navigate.
- Add internal links: They are important because they shorten the time necessary to navigate through your website. Plus, they play a vital role in SEO as well. The well-linked site will have better chances of ranking higher on Google.
Do you want to know more about website navigation? Take a look at this article to discover more tips and principles regarding creating a truly user-friendly website: https://noaignite.co.uk/blog/website-nagivation-best-practices
