Web Design News: Dont Forget to Improve Your Websites Navigation
Often, many website redesign projects for companies tend to just deal with the physical aspects of the site. Too many online marketers urge their web designers to focus on the design, completely forgetting about navigation in the process. This is most likely because that part of the website is hidden away under all the design elements and content.
According to Kissmetrics (@Kissmetrics) latest web design news article titled Are You Making These Common Website Navigation Mistakes?, navigation has a more significant effect on the success of a website than any other factor. Plenty of things can go wrong if you dont pay attention to navigation. Here are a few tips to help you avoid that.
Dont Overcrowd Your Navigation
You think having fifteen-plus navigation items is good? You might want to reconsider, as this defeats the purpose of being organized. If you have too many navigation links, you will confuse not only your customers but the search engines as well. With each extra link from the home page to the interior pages, your authority decreases, which would make search engines conclude that your website is not trustworthy.
Set Up a Custom Search Bar
If you have tons of products on your website, navigation will be a nightmare for your customers without a custom search engine. A custom search bar is useful for the users who already know what theyre looking for when they go to your site.
Get Your Content Layout Organized
In his 11 Common Web Design Mistakes (Blunder) article, Hongkiats (@hongkiat) Brujo Owoh says that how your content is structured will affect its success. The first thing you should do is make sure that your navigation will not be confusing for the users. Put the navigation bar where visitors will expect to find it: at the top or vertically to the left side. Dont forget about the headings, sub-headings, keywords, and other similar elements; make sure they are relevant to your business and are labeled accordingly.
Be Consistent with Your Design
A little creativity is good so long as you dont overdo it. Its important that your site maintains a sense of uniformity even with creative elements. If the layout changes on every page, its just going to confuse and annoy your users.
Website navigation is all about simplicity and ease of use. If you need some more helpful web design insights and tips, look to online resources like Marketing Digest.
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