February 11, 2006
In regard to web design, here is another one of those areas that seem so obvious, yet many still make some serious mistakes concerning it. That is the area of having navigation that is consumer friendly and easy to use. a
With the possible exception of slow-loading pages, nothing probably drives customers from you site quicker than perplexing or complex navigation. It should be so easy to use that your visitor should be able to know where they are at all times no matter where they are on the site.a
Along with that it should be easy and quick for them to locate pages that they have already come across and visited. a
You have to be absolutely sure that your navigation bar or menu is located in the exact same place on every page of the site. There should never be the need for your visitors to hunt for it.
One exercise that you can do to help to see how your site performs is to explore your competitors’ sites and see how yours compares with theirs in this area. What is there that appeals to you and what is it that you dislike. Once you have that information, you can use it to enhance your site for maximum ease of use for your customers.
There is one major thing to consider with navigation: Consistency is the whole thing here. No consistency means lost customers. Be consistent and you’ll do great!
