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How Much Is Your Navigation Costing You?

Posted under Usability, Web Design & Development

No, really. It’s a valid question. Website navigation is simple yet so important. It’s often not given the attention it deserves in the web design process.

According to Usability.gov studies have revealed some pretty incredible stats:

  1. People can’t find the information they seek on a website around 60% of the time.
  2. 40% of users don’t return to a site after a bad experience.
  3. 62% of web shoppers give up looking for the item they want to buy online.
  4. 50% of potential sales are lost because users can’t find information.

I don’t know about you, but that last figure jumps out at me. Wouldn’t you like to double your online conversions?

If you would, here’s some best practices:

1. Labels

You might understand that “stuff” means “tools”. But put yourself in the shoes of your visitor for a second. Even though “stuff” sounds cooler, do you really think that describes the content?

This is definitely one of those situations where innovation and “standing out” isn’t a virtue. Your visitors come to your page with a certain goal in mind, and confusing them with fancy words isn’t going to do them any good.

Keep your navigation labels conventional.

2. The 3-Click Rule

There’s actually no 3-click rule. In fact, there’s no correlation between the number of clicks to reach content and your conversion rates.

The point is to keep navigation should be easy. There should be a good “flow” to your site. Unfortunately there’s no way to quantify this & there’s no formula. You’ll have to trust your instincts.

I would worry a little bit if your site has less than 100 pages and users can’t find content within 3 or 4 clicks, though.

3. Build Wide – Not Deep

This goes hand in hand with  the last point. For a small site, you should try to structure your pages wide rather than deep.

4. Offer a Search Function

Consumers today are so used to just searching for what they’re looking for (it’s likely how they got to your site in the first place), so make ’em feel comfortable.

This is especially important if you have more than 150 pages on your site.

5. Include Breadcrumb Navigation

…but don’t rely on it. Breadcrumb navigation is a great way to tell users where they are on your site, but studies show that many users don’t really know how to use it.

6. Ensure You Have a Sitemap

I mean a sitemap for humans, not search engines. It should list all the pages on your site, organized into sections. If you have a ton of blog posts, you might just have links to the category archives or something.

Make sure that you link to consistently on every page. This is a great fail-safe for those who are really challenged by your website.

7. Position

Navigation should go at the top, immediately after your header, or along the left side of the window. Don’t get creative with this, because you’ll shoot yourself in the foot.

Make sure that your navigation is in the same location on EVERY page, even if you have a different layout for your home page. The only exception to this is landing pages (more about this in another post).

8. New Windows

This isn’t really about navigation, but it’s important.

If you are opening a new window, make sure you indicate so (notice the little symbol after the links above). If you don’t do that (and it’s an internal page) include a “close” button prominently at the bottom of the page.

Above all…

8. K.I.S.S.

Above all, keep it simple. You want your users thinking about the action you want them to perform, not how to get there.

There you have it. 8 quick tips for better site navigation and more conversions!

P.S.: If you have trouble, just ask us to do a website analysis. We’ll review your website’s usability, content, and performance. You can still get $100 until the end of the year!

Bonus

Here’s 8 examples of great navigation:

Keith's Cakes Navigation
Lowe's Navigation
Forty Navigation
Midnight Moon Navigation

Bigcartel Navigation
Weightshift Navigation
Design Instruct Navigation
Simple As Milk Design Studio Navigation

Written by

Rishi Patel

I help businesses build brands that matter. I'm the founder + creative director of Monazu. Let's connect on Twitter!

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Comments

  1. Same Day Couriers says

    May 16, 2012 at 4:37 am

     Navigation matters the most in online web business. If your site navigation is too deep to explore it would be frustrated for the visitors and as a result he switches to another site.

  2. Global Wholesale Suppliers says

    January 27, 2012 at 4:41 am

    yeah! It’s a nice topic. Site navigation is most important in online marketing.  The more your site is user friendly the more time user spends on it. websites with deep links make visitors bored and they switch on to other one.
    User must be served within 3, 4 clicks what he wants.

  3. Natalie Johanson says

    January 4, 2012 at 5:55 am

    Great topic you have covered here. Site navigation is one of the most important factor after the content. I too have experienced this and experience it everyday at least once. I visit a site and am lost not knowing where to go next with irrelevant content before me. I never re-visit the site and that means atleast one visitor lost permanently.

    • Rishi Patel says

      January 4, 2012 at 9:51 am

      I’m the same way Natalie. I literally bounce around sites in a matter of seconds. If I’m not hooked in that time, I’m out, and the navigation is one of the first places I look to see if the site is appropriate for me.

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