Avoiding Website Navigation Nightmares

When setting up your navigation structure for your menus think about simplicity.

frank deardurff
Avoiding Website Navigation Nightmares
Avoiding website navigation nightmares

There   are   many   types    of navigation that can be used on a website and many locations on a page that navigation can be placed.

Obviously, too many locations can be a problem because the website visitor  can  easily  get  distracted from the primary objective of your website or just frustrated because they can’t easily figure out where to go first.

Simplicity is generally best.

When setting up your  navigation structure  for  your   menus  think about simplicity. If you can explain what the link is in one or two words that will be best. Nothing is more confusing than a menu button with two lines of text, plus it breaks up uniformity.

Also, decide which location works the best for simplicity.  Many times you find navigation  either on the left or right sides of the page AND along  the  top  under  the  header graphic. Ideally you want to stick to one  location. 

Obviously,   a menu across the top is limited to the width of your page where as a menu down one side or the other will give you more options.  And, of course, you wouldn’t want two rows of buttons across the top.

Something else you want to consider when creating  your navigation  links is to  make  sure you  use  colors and fonts that are readable.  This can be easily achieved without becoming overbearing.  

Be  sure  to  create some  sort  of  “action”  when  the visitor  places  their  mouse  over the  button  or  link.  This  can  be accomplished   by   using   either what is called a  rollover graphic or an “on mouse over” text action. This gives the visitor confirmation that something is going to happen when they click the link.

Ideally,  if you  are working  on  a single page sales letter site  you don’t want any navigation, at least in the form of buttons. Obviously you  will  need  some  navigation links  on  your   sales  page  and the best place for those is in the footer section of the page.

Again, simplicity rules.  You only need a few key  links when creating  the single  page  sales  letter. You’ll want  items such as your privacy policy; disclaimer, support link and maybe even an order now link.

One other from of navigation links on a single page sales letter page is what are called “jump links” or anchor tags. This strategy allows you  to   “jump”  down  the  sales page to a predefined anchor point.

For  example,  if  you  have  order links  on  your  sales  page  it  has been proven that you get  better conversions if you link those order links  to  an  order  area of your sales page.  That way your visitor can see your complete offer and bonuses.  This  is done using the anchor link technique.

You can also create sales letters where  the  sales  letter  starts  off with a bulleted list of action items which link to strategic points in the sales  letter  such  as:  frequently asked questions and testimonials.

As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when  creating the  navigation  strategy  for  your website.

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Frank Deardurff

An early love for graphics brought me online over 20 years ago which lead me to consume a vast knowledge in marketing, conversion, design and various types of web technologies. That information led to becoming a web master, serial entrepreneur, author, coach, trainer and That One Web Guy! FrankDeardurff.com

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