Posted on June 6th, 2010The website is a means of providing access on the internet for information. The best way to provide that information is with simple navigation of the website. Making the website user friendly will generate traffic and business. A bad site will leave the users frustrated, confused, and stranded on the site, where you will lose a potential customer.
The first step in the design of the navigation system is to decide where on the page it is going to be placed. History of websites stated it was to be placed on the left-hand side of the page yet with modern application the placement can be wherever the designer wants it to be. The navigation can now be a cascading style with drop down menus such as a window environment to enhance the experience of the site.
Wherever you place the navigation, here are some basic rules that help with the development and design of the website.
- Navigation always should be the result based on the site’s content. It should be setup to reflect the information according to the importance of the content. It is the outline of the website.
- Create a navigation bar based on the content of the website. If your site has 20 pages, the navigation bar needs to list the 20 pages. Make it easy for the users to get to the different pages on the site every time.
- Make sure that the user can always return to the previous page or “go back” with the navigation. Wherever they want to go within the site, your navigation should easily take them there.
- Redundancy with the navigation is a great tool for the users. Place a linked navigation tool in a different location so there are multiple options for visiting different pages on the site. The dual navigation will help the users always get to the information they are seeking easily.
The navigation of the website is the most important aspect for users once they have been directed to the site. They need to have easy access to every page quickly. They need to know they can return to a previous page without being stranded on the current page. They need to know they can skip several pages to get to where they really want to go. The navigation should always be designed for easy and comfort of the user so they will gladly return to the site without any regrets or bad feelings about locating the specific information they is seeking.
Test the navigation tools both before you publish your site and after you publish the site. Verify all the links are working properly and effectively. You want the users to breeze through your site with confidence.