Your Website Navigation
The navigation of your website is crucial to guide users to relevant content. A clear structure and an intuitive interface ensure a smooth experience. Organize the menu consistently and use descriptive links and categories to facilitate site exploration.
What is Navigation
It is something that many leave for after the pages and content. In a recent survey, only 50% of Internet users were able to predict where relevant content would be based on the standard navigation structure of a website. Website navigation uses menus with internal links that make it easy for visitors to find the page they are looking for. Good navigation is an essential element of a user-friendly website.
What is the Navigation Structure of a Website?
The navigation structure of a website describes how different pages of your site are organized and connected to each other. For example, some pages and content can only be reached by visiting a specific page. Designers and developers often plan the navigation structure when creating a new website. In this example, the About, Plans, Contact, and Blog pages are linked from the home menu. To access the Mission and Team pages, you have to visit the About page first. It is recommended not to go beyond the third level when planning the navigation of our website because as we go deeper, the relevance of the terms decreases while confusing navigation occurs.
Why is Website Navigation Important?
Website navigation is important for several reasons, including:
Presents a clean and structured appearance:
since a website can be the online face of an organization, a user-friendly and well-structured site can suggest that the organization is trustworthy and high-quality.
Influences user emotions:
well-designed navigation helps users find the information they need quickly and independently. A user who encounters no obstacles in their search for data is more likely to have a positive perception of the website and the organization.
Increases visit duration:
when a site is easy to navigate, it can encourage users to stay longer, explore more, and learn more about the organization. Conversely, a site that is difficult to navigate may prompt users to "bounce" or view only one page within the website before moving on to another.
Improves search engine optimization:
good navigation allows search engines to crawl and index a website more effectively, making it easier for users to find the site through search queries. This can also lead to a higher ranking in search results.
Increases purchase rates:
good navigation means that users can easily find what they are looking for on a site, and users who effortlessly find the products or services they need are more likely to make a purchase.
Types of Website Navigation
Global Website Navigation
With global website navigation, the menu and links are consistent across all pages of the website. Many modern menus are designed this way, including the menu on our own site here at Forge, where if you scroll down the page, the menu remains static. In the screenshot, you can see that ours is straightforward and easy to understand. It is the same on all our pages and leads to some of our most important pages and content. We know the crucial information a potential customer wants to know before making a decision. That’s why we make it easy for customers to find our content, features, and get in touch with us. And for existing users, we have the login option to allow them to access their profile. Our footer menu is also global and highlights essential sections of our website and some featured content.
Hierarchical Website Navigation
Hierarchical navigation means that menus change depending on the context of each page. Most newspapers and content-heavy websites feature hierarchical navigation. For example, if you visit a newspaper homepage, you will usually see links to the most important news categories in the header menu. If the menu were global, it would remain the same after clicking on a different category. But because it is hierarchical, it reveals new links that lead to subcategories of the category page we visited. On the New York Times’ Science page, you don’t see the top-level menu. Instead, you see links to research sub-sections and scientific articles. This change is what sets this menu apart from a regular global one found on most smaller sites.
Local Website Navigation
Unlike hierarchical and global navigation, local website navigation refers to internal links included within the content itself. Users are typically given options at the same level of a hierarchy or one level deeper, or links to navigate to other relevant pages. A good example is magazine websites, which often use links to help readers explore the deeper context of a particular article. If they mention a topic or concept they have covered in the past, they link to that article instead of explaining it in-depth. But it´s not limited to magazines and news websites. E-commerce stores heavily rely on this type of navigation menu to showcase products from the same category. Internal linking is also a crucial aspect of overall SEO.
Good website navigation is always designed with the user in mind. It uses clear and easy-to-understand language and links to the most important pages. It makes use of ample white space, color changes, or other design techniques to clearly separate itself from the main content. Additionally, it is more readable and usable on all devices (mobile and desktop). Always strive to follow best practices for web page menu design to ensure that your visitors and search engines can navigate your content easily.
