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Navigation 101: Getting Your Visitors to Return
by Mackenzie Fogelson, M.A.
Printable Version
Your target audience can be a very judgmental bunch. Sometimes it takes them only a split second before they make a decision about whether to return to your Website. Although the design, look and feel of your Website plays a major role in influencing that decision, there is also another major factor: navigation.
It seems strange that the design of a good Website wouldn’t start from the beautiful photos, colors, or graphics that a designer is thinking about using. The truth is, a good Website starts from the design of the navigational structure.
The Scoop Behind Navigation
We’ve
all been to Websites that leave us feeling aggravated, lost, and
even confused. This frustration could be caused by many things:
the Flash player that is required for download in order to even
enter the site; it could be the presence of poor design choices. Most
likely however, the largest fault is found in the lack of effective
navigation. This flaw can cause visitors never to return
to a Website again. To be sure that this isn’t the
case with your Website, review the following elements:
Well-Planned Navigation
When
designing a new Website, or redesigning an existing one, the first
item to be addressed isn’t the design, it’s the navigation. The design
of a good Website is driven directly by the navigation. A small Website
that contains 6 pages will require a much smaller and less involved navigational
structure than one that has 40. In other words, the navigation
and the design need to work hand-in-hand and should be coordinated
so that they compliment each other and fit together.
The Predictability Factor
Navigation
should be predictable. Aggravating visitors by causing them to
feel overwhelmed, lost, or confused by the navigation of your Website
will be the only reason they need to never return. When labeling
the navigational links in your Website, use terms that are general
and that can be universally understood. “About”, “Services”, “Products”, “Contact” are
all predictable, general terms for the links on your Website. This
will assist your visitors in making educated guesses about where
to find the information that they are looking for. Keep it simple
and allow your visitors to be lead in the right direction.
Keep Your Promises
If
you label a section of your Website “Products”, what kind of information
do you think should be stored there? Be aware that by using specific labels
for your navigational choices that you are making a promise to your visitor: “follow
this link and we promise to provide you with information about the products that
our company produces.” Once your visitor decides to investigate
your “Products” section, be sure that you are keeping
your promise and providing them with the exact information that
they were expecting to find there.
Allow for Growth
One
of the reasons for using universal and even general terms when
labeling your navigational links is to allow your Website to grow
without having to reorganize your entire navigational structure. The
navigational structure of a Website must be approached from a global
perspective in order to accommodate future site growth without
compromising the integrity of the navigation or the design.
Keep it on Two Levels
In
order to avoid creating a navigational abyss, the navigational
structure of your Website should remain on two levels: major and minor. The major navigational
choices should be provided on every page of the Website. The
minor navigational choices should reside in their appropriate and
corresponding major sections.
No Magic Necessary
The
navigational choices in your Website should not be part of a magical
disappearing act. Navigation should be consistent, predictable, and constant. Drop
down menus are not the most effective way of displaying navigational choices
and can easily frustrate your visitors because they disappear. Make
your navigational choices stagnant where appropriate to provide
dependability for your visitors.
Site Map
Even
if you create a very predictable and easy to understand navigational
structure for your audience to follow, many of your visitors will
still prefer to avoid the trial and error game altogether. Providing a site map allows for your
visitors to see the contents of your Website in its entirety. Not
to mention, the search engines love site maps, so this will assist
your exposure and rankings in the engines as well.
Naturally Effective Usability
Usability
is something that is very important to good Website design, and effective usability
is directly connected to well-designed navigation. Usability boils down
to how well a Website works; how easy it is to use and navigate through; how
easy it is to get what you came for. Without effective usability, your
visitors will be less likely to return. Make this your checklist when it
comes to creating or evaluating your Website’s navigational structure and
you will have your visitors coming back for more.