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Website navigation can make or break visitor retention. It gives your site structure that steers your visitor along with the right flow. Learn the types of navigation and tips on website navigation design from the best Web Design Company in Chennai.
Types of website navigation
The Classic Navigation Header
This is by far the most common website navigation feature. It is in the form of a menu that is placed horizontally over the home page’s main content.
Side Bars
This is a list placed in a vertical arrangement to the left or right of the home page. However recent design trends have given it a central place of prominence.
Split Menus
These are also a recent trend in website design. The menus are split up and placed alongside the relevant content on the home page.
Hamburger Menu
This menu is represented by an icon – three horizontal dashes against a solid background. You can access the menu by clicking on it. It expands or cascades down to display the links.
Website Footers
Website Footers are another position of interest for navigation links. Even at the end of the page, a user has access to other pages through the navigation links on the footer.
Now that you know the types of website navigation options there are available, let’s learn how to make website navigation efficient and easier for the user.
Create a Sitemap
When planning a trip to an unfamiliar destination, one normally plans their itinerary using a map of the location. Now think of your website as an unfamiliar territory to the visitors. Plan your website in the exact trail that you want them to follow. Create a Sitemap, a list of all the pages, and the subcategories within them. Sort them out according to their importance or relevance to the visitor. Design the flow of your website in the same hierarchy.
Let the Links Pop out
If your visitor cannot make out the hypertext from the rest of the copy, then the website navigation becomes a hassle. Let the links pop out even if the pointer isn’t hovering over them. Web Design and Development services use different fonts, make it bold, go with different colours, or design it as buttons. This will surely get your visitor’s attention.
Optimise the Navigation menu
Check the number of direct links on your navigation menu. If there are too many of them, then the navigation bar is going to look cluttered and confusing to the user. Start with which of the links can be categorised under others. Your Sitemap will be of great help here. Then design the navigation bar with the main links with the sub categories cascading under them. The main headings should clearly communicate what would lie within them.
E.G: If your site sells furniture, Home Furniture and Office furniture would be the main headings. Items like Tables, Sofas, Beds, Stools, and Chairs would be the subheadings. Further subdivisions would be the different types from each item.
Separate the Side Bars
The Side bars must be distinct from the rest of the website copy. The Best web Design companies achieve this with different colours and with plenty of space from the rest of the content. Give it a little 3D formatting to make it jump out of the page.
Standardise your navigation bar
People are accustomed to expecting things to be in a certain place on a website. This applies to the navigation menu too. The most preferred spots are the header, sides, and footer. Even if you want to break trends in website design, the best web design companies will recommend sticking with these oldies.
Mobile Optimisation for Navigation
The Navigation menu must be optimised for mobile screens. Avoid large menus that stretch horizontally. Vertical side bars with cascading menus work better on mobile browsers. Mobile sites are a classic location for Hamburger menus. Make sure the links are big enough for people with large fingers to click.
Open Designs, the best web development company in Chennai, has helped design thousands of successful websites. We have created the most convenient online user journeys that have guaranteed conversions for our clients. Make your web design count with Open Designs.
FAQ
How long does it take to create a responsive website?
To get started, a typical website will take 14 weeks from minimum from inception to the delivery stage. It could take much longer depending on your requirements. Discuss with your website development team to get an idea about the delivery date. Actively research the market and the best service provider to get it done professionally. Website development is one of the crucial aspects of your business on which you shouldn’t compromise. Ensure that you get regular updates from your development team to make sure everything is executed as per the schedule. There are chances that conflicts might arise which may compromise the overall development process, you should be prepared to tackle the situation and get things done in a smooth manner.
What are breadcrumbs?
Breadcrumbs are nothing but a secondary navigation system that can be used to learn about the user’s location on a particular website. Visitors can get a better idea about the webpage if they have an overview of the hierarchy on the website. They serve as an effective visual aid that represents the location of a user within the website. It is not a complex mechanism on websites and will up only a line on your website. One of the main advantages of breadcrumbs is that they do not have any negative impact on your website in terms of content overload. If you have a large number of web pages piled up on your site, you must incorporate breadcrumbs into your site.
What is Google sandbox in SEO?
Google Sandbox is a common term that is used to explain the lower rankings of new websites in the Google search results. The function of Google sandbox is to provide results that are highly relevant to the users. Filtering out new websites and constantly monitoring them helps the search engine to provide relevant results. Moreover, it is difficult to say how long a website will be inside the sandbox as it primarily depends on the types of keywords it will be competing against. If your website has high-quality and relevant content, then the Google sandbox shouldn’t be a huge problem for you. The ultimate aim should be to optimize the website to stand out from the crowd.
What are accelerated mobile pages?
Accelerated Mobile Pages is an open-source project that is designed to optimize faster mobile pages. To break it down into simpler terms, it is making a page loading faster that is already optimized to be mobile-friendly. You have to use a streamlined version of CSS if you are opting for accelerated mobile pages. The website must be validated properly on a regular basis to ensure that they work properly. If you are looking to offer a better user experience, incorporate custom fonts into it and declare the proper height & weight of the page to avoid quirky-loading images. Accelerated mobile pages can significantly reduce the overall bounce rate on your website and improve conversion rates for your business.
What is SEO in marketing?
SEO marketing is the process of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic. All this results in increasing the exposure of the business to the right target audience. SEO is that one marketing tool that holds the potential to pay dividends over time continuously. If you have content that is strong and has every reason to rank at the top, you need not invest in other marketing tools and techniques to increase the visibility of your website. It is because of this that SEO marketing plays a pivotal role in growing your business. Therefore, optimizing your site in a manner that shows up within the top search results is critical.
Why is website development important?
How good your website is has a lot to do with the business you generate at the end of the day. Here is why website development is important.
- The first impression of your business is the website. If your website is outdated, the impression of the business left behind is definitely not what you’d want.
- By looking at how well the website is developed, the customers get a fair idea of how they would be treated by the business. If the website is not worked upon well, they tend to believe that the business won’t take efforts in catering to the requirements of the customers as well.
- A well-designed website enables the audience to build trust with the business.
- A poorly designed website has an adverse impact on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
What makes a good website in 2022?
In order to make it into the list of good websites, there are a couple of things that one needs to take note of.
- A good website doesn’t take much time to load.
- A website that is trustworthy – both in terms of content as well as technicalities is the most sought after.
- The website should be free of bugs.
- Make sure that your website caters to a specific goal/objective.
- For a website to reach out to the maximum, it is important to understand the target audience in-depth, right from what they need to what other websites do they use.
- Making use of the right words, font and style always help.
What is the best SEO tool in 2022?
There is no specific best SEO tool, but here is a list of SEO tools that all the experts are using in 2022.
- Ahrefs – SEO keyword tool
- Google Search Console
- SEMRush – Marketing tools for SEO
- KWFinder – SEO keyword tool
- MOZ Pro – Complete SEO software
- Ubersuggest – Keyword Tracking tool
- Answer the Public – Keyword association tool
- Woorank – SEO Ranking Tool
- Majestic – Marketing tool for SEO
- Google Trends – SEO trends checking tool
- SEO Quake – Free SEO audit tool
- Siteliner – SEO analytics tool
- Fat Rank – SEO ranking tool
- Screaming Frog – SEO audit and insights tool
- Serpstat – One stop SEO platform
How can I increase the traffic on my website?
There are several ways to increase and divert traffic to your website. Listed are a few that you might be interested in.
- Invest in some paid advertising that will guarantee you results.
- Open Social Media accounts and post attractive content regularly.
- Use attractive titles that make browsers want to open the link.
- Review and up your on page SEO game.
- Target long tail keywords with colloquialisms for each customer location.
- Indulge in some guest blogging that will build external links
- Strengthen internal linking to subtly encourage more customer interaction.
- Make your site responsive to be accessible on all devices.
- Improve site loading speed to reduce abandonments.
- If you are an E-Commerce site, post clear and attractive product images.
What are the new SEO trends of 2021?
SEO is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to boost traffic to your site. It can open the gateway to new customer pools, even on a global scale. The top SEO trends of 2021 are,
- Core web vitals : Loading, Interactivity and Visual Stability
- Google’s BERT: Using Machine learning and natural language processing for intent matching.
- Keyword research: To identify high ranking keywords.
- Original content: Value adding content that attracts traffic organically.
- Voice search: Voice activated searches that include colloquialisms in global languages.
- Artificial intelligence: Using AI to personalise the customer journey.
- Video marketing: For visitors to better relate to the brand with audio visual stimulation.
- Featured snippets: Elevate reputation of the business with features snippets on Google.
- Influencer SEO: Partner with social media influencers to get their following as customers.
- EAT & Branded SEO: Build expertise, authority and trust by building brand awareness.
Why every business needs SEO?
For anyone who wants to implement digital marketing for their business, Search Engine Optimisation or SEO as it is commonly known should be the first priority. It is more than the misconception of just adding keywords to your content. When done right, SEO can do the following for you.
- Send quality traffic your way.
- Boost the business reputation
- Get results with inexpensive methods
- Increases customer engagement with the site
- Help you understand your customers
- Help you beat the competition
- Continuously evaluate and boost performance of the site