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While some people choose to put most of their focus on the design of their website, it’s the navigation that’s actually the most important feature. Functionality, clarity, and practicality will always be better than a pretty design because it will give your customers the information they need in a matter of seconds.
This isn’t to say that web design isn’t an important feature, but to say that great navigation is what takes the design from good to excellent. With these tips, you’ll have a simple and clearcut website that visitors will never want to leave.
Highlight the Page The Visitor is On
Since there can be so many pages on a given website, it’s easy to get lost in them when you’re exploring everything the site has to offer. If you’ve got a lot of content, for instance, it can also be easy for the visitor to forget what part of the site they were at because they were too busy reading.
There is one simple feature that can make the experience much more comfortable and smoother, and it’s to highlight the page the visitor is currently using.
This way, the user can focus on what they were reading or scrolling through without having to check the navigation bar for reference in where they are. Highlighting is much quicker and it doesn’t take a lot of work to function properly.
There are different ways to indicate what page the visitor is viewing, and all of them are available as themes, so setting this feature up will take you very little time. For instance, you can choose the option where the text just changes colour from one to the other when the user clicks on it to enter the page the text is linked to.
If your target audience is primarily older, it might be a good idea to give more indication in navigation, as older people tend not to be as tech savvy. One way to do this is to introduce a block of coloured text around the section which is currently being used. Make sure to use a bright and solid color, as this helps avoid any confusion and is the most easily noticeable.
Use Simple Icons
You might be tempted to use icons instead of words to indicate different parts of your website or your services. This is completely fine, and even creative, but as long as it remains simple. The trouble with using symbols is that they have to be universally recognizable in order to work.
If you end up using something you think is fun and unique, the chances are that your visitors won’t know how to read or navigate your website. Of course, you can tailor the colour of these icons to match the colours of your business, but don’t complicate it more than that.
Visual communication is great, and we use it subconsciously all the time, so it’s a good move for your business site too. If you offer services for families or sell products even kids can use, then icons can be a fun way to convey your company family values.
As well as that, let’s not forget that children these days scroll the internet as well, and you may just find a little new potential customer that loves your icons so much they don’t want their parents to buy their toys anywhere else.
Design Separate Pages
Websites tend to convey a lot of information, so business owners tend to think that they can just throw all of this information at the user on the main page. No matter how neatly you organize that main page, you’ll never be able to convey the information you want to the visitor, as they will simply exit the site. Nobody likes being bombed with a ton of information at once.
Instead, create separate sections for all the different things you want to show your visitors. For example, you could have separate tabs at the top of the page that direct people to your services, contact information, blog, or testimonials.
If you have a variety of different information to convey within these categories, create a falling menu that further categorizes the info. That way, people can find what they’re looking for a two or three clicks of their mouse.
As well as that, stick the menu with the categories at the top of the main page, so it’s clearly visible to anyone who opens your site. Make sure that the sections remain clickable regardless of what part of the site the user is at. That way, they can find out more information more quickly, without having to go to the main page every time and start their search from the beginning.
One other feature you can add for your visitors’ convenience is the sticky header feature. This feature makes the header follow the users’ scrolling and stay at the top of the page at all times. So, while a customer is scrolling through your website and reading all the information they need, they can switch to something new immediately without having to scroll all the way up.
It’s a simple yet effective feature, as you keep the main points in the user’s field of view at all times and make their experience much more smooth. Just make sure that the header isn’t too big, so the user can still read the page without the header taking up half of the screen.
Don’t Do It Alone
The biggest and most common mistake business owners make when it comes to designing their websites is believing they can do it themselves. Instead of trusting a professional, people find a few online tutorials and create a site that seems great on the surface. Not only is this a huge waste of time, but it also results in a site with exceptionally poor navigation, open ends, and too many blank pages.
This used to be a problem especially in big markets with a lot of small businesses. Australia is the prime example, as small business owners simply thought hiring an agency was a waste of their hard-earned cash. However, the best SEO agencies in Sydney, Melbourne, or Canberra can save you a lot of headaches when it comes to website design.
Regardless of where you are in the world, these agencies specialize in SEO and follow the latest trends in web design. They tie up all the loose ends and deliver websites that are truly functional yet beautiful, perfect for attracting new customers.
If you’re in this for the long run and really want to excel in your business, then you should look at hiring a professional as an investment, not a waste. Why wouldn’t you want someone who knows the SEO waters better than you on your team?
On top of all of that, hiring someone else gives you the luxury of time that not many business owners have. Instead of focusing on the nitty-gritty details of your website, you can take care of other things that may make your business better.
Emphasize the Logo
Your logo is the face of your business, but more than that, it’s the face of your website. If you already have a recognizable brand logo, then you need to use it to the fullest in the creation of your website. First of all, it needs to be placed well and optimized so it doesn’t impair the rest of the website’s functionality regardless of what device is used to enter it.
Next, include a link on your logo that leads directly to the homepage. People will instinctively click it when they want to go back to the main page, so ensure you include it. That way, if they’ve been exploring the site for a while, they won’t have to keep clicking the back button to get to the beginning of their search. Most people won’t have the patience for this and will leave your site immediately, and they’re unlikely to come back.
Then, think about the size of the logo. If you’ve got a complex logo, you need to make it big enough so your customers can see every detail clearly and see what’s written on the logo. The pixels in your logo are definitely the most important part, and it’s usually best to go with 160px times 160px for square logos.
Of course, the size you choose will also depend on the space you have. The most important thing is that everything is proportionate and clear.
Conclusion
As you can see, efficient navigation isn’t hard to achieve if you know what you’re doing. These tips will definitely take you where you need to go and give your website the simple look you were hoping for. However, don’t forget to improve other aspects of your website as well, because otherwise you still won’t get the results you were looking for. Remember, good navigation is the key to making your website amazing, but it works as just one gear in the whole turning clock.