Website Navigation Best Practices

How to Make Your Website Easy to Use

Have you ever visited a website and struggled to find what you were looking for? Perhaps the menu was confusing, important information was difficult to find or you weren't sure where to click next. Good website navigation makes all the difference. It helps visitors find information quickly, understand what your business offers and move easily between different sections of your website. When people can find what they need without having to think too hard, they're more likely to stay on your website and take the next step, whether that's making an enquiry, booking an appointment or purchasing a product.

The good news is that creating easy-to-use website navigation doesn't need to be complicated. Here are some practical tips to help you organise your website and make it easier for visitors to find their way around.

1. Keep Your Navigation Menu Simple

Your main navigation menu is one of the first things visitors will look at when they arrive on your website. It should give people a clear idea of what's available and help them find the most important sections without having to search. A common mistake is trying to include every page in the main menu. This can make your navigation crowded and difficult to use, particularly on smaller screens. Instead, focus on the main sections of your website.

For a typical small business website, your main menu might include:

• Home
• About Us
• Services
• Products
• Resources
• Contact

You can group related pages together under broader menu headings rather than displaying every page individually. Think about which pages are most important to your customers and make those easy to find.

2. Use Clear and Descriptive Menu Labels

Your navigation labels should tell visitors exactly what they'll find when they click on them. Avoid using unusual or clever names that might sound good but don't clearly explain what's behind the link. For example, if you run a building company, a menu labelled 'Our Services' is much clearer than something like 'What We Do'. Similarly, if you sell products online, 'Shop' or 'Products' tells visitors where to find your range.

Good navigation labels should be:

• Short and easy to understand.
• Familiar to your target audience.
• Descriptive of the page or section.
• Consistent with the language used elsewhere on your website.

Don't make visitors guess what a menu item means. The easier it is to understand your navigation, the easier it is to use.

3. Organise Related Pages Into Categories

If your website has several pages, grouping related information together can make it much easier to navigate. For example, a business offering several services might organise its website like this:

Services

• Website Design
• Website Development
• Website Maintenance
• Search Engine Optimisation

An online store might organise its products into categories such as:

Shop

• Clothing
• Accessories
• Homeware
• Gifts

This creates a logical structure and helps visitors find the information they're interested in. It also makes your website easier to manage as you add more pages and content. You don't need complicated navigation to achieve this. A few well-organised categories can make a big difference.

4. Put Important Pages Where Visitors Can Find Them

Not every page on your website needs to appear in the main navigation menu. However, important information should always be easy to access. For example, customers should be able to find your contact details without having to search through several pages. Think about the information people are most likely to look for when visiting your website.

This might include:

• Your products or services.
• Pricing information.
• Contact details.
• Opening hours.
• Delivery and returns information.
• Booking options.

You can also make important pages more visible by adding buttons or links within your homepage and other relevant pages. For example, a prominent 'Request a Quote' button can make it easier for potential customers to enquire about your services.

5. Make Your Navigation Consistent

Your main navigation menu should work in the same way throughout your website. Visitors shouldn't have to learn a different navigation system every time they move to another page.

Keep the following consistent:

• Menu location.
• Menu labels.
• Colours and styling.
• Font and text size.
• How dropdown menus work.
• The position of important buttons.

Most websites place the main navigation across the top of the page, although some use a side menu or other layout. Whichever approach you choose, make sure visitors can easily recognise where the navigation is and how to use it. Consistency helps people become familiar with your website, making it easier to move between pages.

6. Make Your Website Navigation Mobile-Friendly

Your website needs to be just as easy to navigate on a mobile phone as it is on a desktop computer. Mobile screens have much less space, so navigation menus often need to work differently. Many websites use a hamburger menu, which is usually represented by three horizontal lines. Visitors tap this icon to open the navigation menu.

When designing mobile navigation, consider:

• Making menu items large enough to tap comfortably.
• Keeping menu labels short.
• Making dropdown menus easy to open and close.
• Avoiding menus that cover important content unnecessarily.
• Ensuring visitors can easily return to the homepage.
• Making important contact and enquiry buttons easy to access.

Don't assume your desktop navigation will automatically work well on mobile. Test your website on an actual phone to make sure visitors can find their way around without difficulty.

7. Use Dropdown Menus Carefully

Dropdown menus can be useful when your website has several related pages. For example, a business might have a main menu item called 'Services' with a dropdown showing its individual services. This allows you to include more pages without making your main navigation unnecessarily long. However, dropdown menus can also create problems if they're difficult to use.

Avoid:

• Including too many items in one dropdown.
• Creating several layers of nested menus.
• Using labels that aren't clear.
• Making dropdowns difficult to open on mobile devices.

Keep dropdown menus organised and only include pages that genuinely belong together. If your website has a large number of pages, consider whether you need to reorganise your website structure rather than adding more dropdown options.

8. Include Links Within Your Website Content

Your navigation menu isn't the only way visitors find their way around your website. Links within your page content can help people discover related information as they read. For example, if you have an article explaining how to build a website, you could link to related guides about website design, writing website content or choosing a website builder. These are called internal links because they connect different pages within your own website.

Internal links are useful because they:

• Help visitors discover related information.
• Make it easier to move between pages.
• Encourage people to explore more of your website.
• Help search engines understand how your pages are connected.

Use descriptive link text so visitors know what they'll find when they click. For example, 'Read our guide to website planning' is more helpful than simply writing 'Click here'.

9. Don't Forget Your Website Footer

Your website footer is another useful place to include navigation links. It appears at the bottom of your pages and provides visitors with another way to find important information.

You might include:

• About Us.
• Contact.
• Services.
• Frequently Asked Questions.
• Privacy Policy.
• Terms and Conditions.
• Social media links.

The footer is particularly useful for pages that don't need to appear in your main navigation menu but should still be easy to access. For example, customers might not need to see your Privacy Policy in the main menu, but they should be able to find it in the footer. You can also include your business address, phone number and email address.

10. Make It Easy to Return to the Homepage

Visitors should always have a simple way to return to your homepage. A common website convention is to make the business logo clickable, linking it back to the homepage. Most people are familiar with this, so it's worth making sure your website follows the same approach. You can also include a Home link in your main navigation menu. This is particularly helpful for visitors who arrive directly on an individual page through Google or another website and want to explore the rest of your business website.

11. Make Your Navigation Accessible

Good navigation should work for as many people as possible, including visitors who use assistive technologies or navigate websites without a mouse. A few simple considerations can make your website easier for everyone to use.

• Use readable text sizes.
• Make sure there is enough contrast between text and background colours.
• Ensure links and buttons are easy to identify.
• Make menus usable with a keyboard.
• Use clear labels for navigation links.
• Avoid relying on colour alone to communicate information.

Accessibility is an important part of website usability. Making your navigation clear and straightforward benefits all your visitors, not just those with specific accessibility requirements.

12. Test Your Website Navigation

Once you've organised your website navigation, take some time to test it. It's easy to assume that everything is obvious when you've spent hours building your website. However, someone visiting for the first time may have a different experience. Ask a friend or someone unfamiliar with your website to try finding particular pieces of information.

For example:

• Can they find your contact details?
• Can they locate your main services?
• Can they find your pricing?
• Can they work out how to make an enquiry?
• Can they find their way back to the homepage?

Also test your navigation on different devices and screen sizes. If people struggle to find something, consider whether you need to change your menu labels, reorganise your pages or add more links within your content.

Common Website Navigation Mistakes to Avoid

Even a well-designed website can become difficult to use if its navigation isn't properly organised. Here are some common mistakes to watch out for:

• Too many menu items: A long navigation menu can overwhelm visitors. Focus on your most important pages and group related information together.
• Unclear labels: Avoid vague or unusual menu names that don't explain what visitors will find.
• Hidden contact information: Make sure your contact details are easy to locate, particularly if generating enquiries is one of your main website goals.
• Complicated dropdown menus: Avoid creating multiple layers of menus that make it difficult to find individual pages.
• Inconsistent navigation: Keep your menu in the same place and make sure it works consistently across your website.
• Ignoring mobile users: Always check that your navigation works properly on phones and tablets.
• Broken links: Regularly check your navigation links to make sure they lead to the correct pages.

Make Your Website Easy to Navigate

Good website navigation isn't about having the most elaborate menu or the cleverest design. It's about helping people find what they're looking for with as little effort as possible. Start by organising your pages into logical sections, using clear menu labels and making important information easy to access. Then check that your navigation works consistently across desktop and mobile devices. Remember that visitors don't want to spend time working out how your website works. They want to find the information they need and get on with what they came to do.

Build a Website That's Easy to Use

When creating a website, navigation should be part of your planning from the beginning rather than something you add at the end. Website World makes it easy to create and organise your website pages, customise your navigation and make changes as your business grows.

Whether you're building your first business website or improving an existing one, having the right tools makes it easier to create a website that works for your customers. Explore Website World and start building your website today.