Website Navigation 101

RM2 Project Blog:
written by Tammy Kollinger
Website navigation should be as simple and as easy as possible. Visitors to your site should be able to naturally go where you need them to go, as opposed to having them hunt down the information they need. In short, hunting equals shorter time spent on your site and a potential loss of customers.

Considering the time and effort you spend trying to get people to go to your site in the first place, the last thing you want is to have folks wondering what to do or where to go next. Visitors should be able to understand your menu and access pertinent information right from the home page. Additionally, your main menu should be accessible from every page.

Common Navigation Problems
• Undefined links (when a link leads to nowhere)
• Too many links and navigation bars within one page leading to the same result (several links leading to an order form, for example)
• Too many navigation bars/menus
• Pages that force visitors to use the back button
• Navigation that focuses on the company’s structure rather than meaningful information for the visitor that could lead to a sale

Correcting and Enhancing Your Website’s Navigation
In some cases, websites may require a complete restructuring of the layout and menus. If this is the case, chances are you may also be due for a re-design of the entire site. Enhancing your navigation, getting a website makeover and bringing your website to Web 2.0 standards all at the same time would probably be the most cost-effective way to tackle the problem. On the other hand, if you simply have a broken link here or there, or just need to “clean up” your site a bit for better navigation, you might be better off consulting with your designer on the best item-by-item approach.