Having a Simple User Friendly Navigation System on your website can really effect your websites success. As a user lands on your website they make a split-second decision about if they are going to stay around and invest time in educating themselves about your solutions. They are much more likely to stay if your Menu Schema is simple and easy to use.
Top 5 Navigation Tips
- Keep It Simple
This sounds simple but can be challenging. One good rule to live by is designing your menu system so a user can get to any page in your site within 3 clicks. Their should be no more than two menu systems one major menu and one minor menu. - Easy to Find
Your menu should be in a prominent position on your website and should look like a menu. In many cases in an effort to be creative menu systems become over complicated and even difficult to find on the page. - Text Menus Not Images
Search Engines do not read images and additional images also slow your website down. Both of these variables effect your position within the search engines. - Horizontal Menus Win
Research has shown that the most effective menu systems are those where the main menu is Horizontally located at the top of the website. - Uniformity Is Big
Navigation structure should not change between sections of your website because it can disorient and confuse your visitor.