In today’s day and age, every niche has a professional website alongside it. Gone are the days when you had to rely on a random physical store to ensure your business was working at its maximum capacity. If you are doing a professional job or a businessman, you must have a professional website to make things easy. There are numerous website-building platforms on the internet for your ease. However, when we talk about website development, we don’t just talk about the website content and the design.
Most importantly, we identify ways to improve the website navigation of our platform.
It is not just about the quality or the number of lines you display on your website content. It is also about how you assemble your content; good navigation helps you achieve that target. If you have a quality navigation system, your visitors will not feel confused after landing on your website. They would need to look into every aspect of your website because the navigation elements will take care of it.
What is Website Navigation?
To create a significant online presence for your website, you must understand what a website navigation menu is. It is defined as the procedure of user browsing via a network of information resources available on the website’s landing page. These resources or parts of information can be available on different sections of the website’s landing page. The user interface for a web navigation system is defined as a web browser. If a website has quality call-to-action (CTA) buttons, you can go through all the sections of it very easily.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
If your visitors have landed on your website but are struggling to move from one website section to another or are unable to find adequate information, you must improve your navigation elements. A sound navigation system will keep your content organized, which means your visitors won’t be annoyed or frustrated after landing on your website. This also has an impact on your website’s bounce rate.
Best Practices for Website Navigation
1) Consistency
When you look at the examples of best website navigation around the Internet, you will find that all of them have standards regarding consistency. If your visitors know transparency and cleanliness within your website content, they will acknowledge it and return to your website more often. Depending on how you create your website, you can have different layout styles for other web pages.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
However, you mustn’t completely disrupt your navigation elements from one page to another. If your navigation elements are completely different within two different web pages, your visitors will lose focus and feel confused. Whenever they move onto a different page of your website, it is almost as if they would have to reorient themselves. This inclusion of extra work may bring frustration, and they would want to leave your website immediately. The best thing to do is keep your navigation elements the same throughout all web pages. As a website owner, you are responsible for ensuring that your visitors consume all the content and look into your products and services.
2) Divide Categories
The best website navigation examples all try to divide content into the form of categories. If your website has multiple sections on every web page and every main category on the menu, you must clearly define all the categories and subcategories. Even if your categories are links, you must perform this task. Professional websites tend to contain only one link regarding a particular website section.
There is no problem if you have multiple links regarding the same website section. The problem occurs when the visitors feel confused before and after clicking both links. Some questions would pop into their minds about the reasons behind the inclusion of two links performing the same task. Therefore, you must name all your navigation elements and define all your buttons and links. If you divide your categories properly, it will provide a smooth navigation experience for the visitors.
3) Clickable Links
If you look at the ideal website navigation examples on the internet, they prioritize headings and subheadings effectively. If your navigation menu contains multiple headings or subheadings, you must ensure that all of your heading elements are clickable. When you create a content structure, you divide it into the form of categories. However, it is natural for the visitors to click on the sub-category as they want to see the relevant content.
Despite the natural feeling, you shouldn’t take it for granted and leave your main headings without any link. For example, if a visitor clicks on the heading instead of the sub-heading and finds out it doesn’t work, it won’t look suitable for your website’s representation. As a result, the entire website content will come under the main category, which may switch off their mood and increase your website’s bounce rate. When people click on the sub-category, they want specific content. If you provide them with the content they are necessarily looking for. It may make them bored.
4) Accurate Titles
The research of accurate navigation titles is one of the website navigation best practices in 2022. It is so popular because it is the bread and butter of your navigation system. If you don’t include accurate or quality titles for your navigation elements, it will create confusion within your visitors’ minds. The titles shouldn’t just be accurate but also straightforward.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
For example, if you have a title of five to six words about a website section, it won’t necessarily clear up anything to the visitor. Instead, you must include a maximum of two to three words to define your navigation element. If your navigation titles are accurate, it would increase your website’s conversion rate and build credibility in the digitized world. It will give your visitors a better idea about what they can expect after landing on the corresponding web page.
5) Search Feature in Working Order
If you want to improve website navigation, you must include an in-site search structure. However, just creating this structure and involving it on your website is not enough. If this feature is not working correctly, there is no point in investing all the time in its development. The search results should always display the relevant content on the display screen. Most importantly, it should compensate for grammatical or spelling mistakes.
Apart from the relevant content, it is also vital that the search bar displays the most frequently viewed relevant content. For example, if visitors search for a product type, the search results must include similar trending products. This may result in the visitors looking into all the relatable products, which may increase the transaction charges if they make a purchase.
Website Navigation Styles on Strikingly
1) Top
On Strikingly, you will find many websites in which the website navigation menu is placed on the top. Fosambart website is one example of the navigation elements displayed at the top. Firstly, you can see the website logo on your computer screen's left side. The logo will give your website an identity which your potential customers can recognize. Moreover, you can also see the CTA button on the top right side of your computer screen, with the text ‘Contact.’ It means that you contact the website owner for inquiries or purchases.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
The displayed navigation elements are straightforward and can be easily understood by the incoming visitors. The portfolio section contains sub-categories, as we had mentioned previously. You will get to your desired content if you look into these sub-categories, such as Jewelry, Shop, and Commissions. The shopping cart icon will get you to the checkout procedure, where you can search for your preferred products and make your buying decisions.
2) Left
The display of the website navigation menu on the left side is arguably the most common practice done by website owners today. As the visitor tends to read from left to right, the website owner includes the navigation elements on the left side of the landing page. Rosa Villa on Strikingly is the best example of this concept. Before including navigation elements, the website owner displays the website logo alongside the website title. The website title is displayed in a unique font, which is also part of this website's attraction.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
After the website logo and title, the navigation elements are displayed individually. All of the elements get you to a specific website section. Most importantly, every navigation element is defined and has a certain meaning behind its inclusion. The sidebars are included so that the visitors don’t just look into the displayed navigation elements and ignore the hidden ones.
Conclusion
If you see websites on the Internet tend to include several links as part of their header navigation bar. You shouldn’t just have the links for the sake of adding them but highlight the navigation elements that are the most important for your company and your target audience.
If you are struggling to identify the best website plan, you can look into the website navigation examples on Strikingly and identify the best version for your website. You must include links that tick the boxes for all sections of your target audience. The people would be happy to look into your products and services, but the target market may not be ready. Therefore, create a professional website on Strikingly and provide reasons for your customers to stay on your website through navigation links.
