Your website navigation is the key to unlock all the great content that you provide to your website visitors. Provide it freely and make your site as easy to use as possible by having the most efficient way to get clients the information they need. Here are some tips to perfect website navigation.
Rule of 5 to 7
Originally web design enthusiasts took hold of a study by George Miller on short term memory. Based on this study, designers came up with the rule that a website’s navigation should have between five and seven items. You may see that this study is really focused on memory limitations of study subjects, rather than best practices of web design. Five to seven items are generally easier for people to handle and limiting your navigation is still a good idea. It keeps your site concise and focused. This allows your visitors to find what they are searching for without too much confusion.
Limit Dropdowns
Don’t hide your content. Make it easy for visitors to move around on your site and find what they are searching for. While it can be difficult to limit your content to fit in these confines, it’s a good way to audit what is really important on your site and get visitors the information they seek in the most efficient manner.
Give Them What They Want
Be visitor focused. Your first menu items should cater to what the user wants. Think like a first time visitor to your site. Without anything but what is on your homepage, can you find the perfect property? What is important to you may not match what a common visitor seeks. You may even ask some friends to hop on your site and see if they can navigate easily.
Be Descriptive
Changing the text of your menu items can prove helpful. The term ‘search’ may be more confusing to a visitor than the more explicit ‘property search’ or ‘find your home’. With all the distractions on the web, it’s best to have folks think as little as possible. They should know right away where a link will take them.
|
Listen to this post...
 |
