How many times have you been on a website and couldn’t find what you were looking for? The headers don’t make sense, there’s too much or not enough information, and the more you look, the worse it gets. Frustrating right?
Maybe you’ve looked around a bit more, done some clicking and actually found what you were looking for. But chances are you’ve already bailed. Got out. Looked up a similar service and hoped their site was easier to navigate. That’s what most of us do. When we want something, we want it right away. There’s no time to waste clicking, searching, and navigating more than we need to.
If you have a business website, it might be time to look it over and make sure it’s easy to navigate. On average, users stay on a website for less than a minute. Some, for only 10-20 seconds. It seems super short, but how many times have you took one look at a website, and clicked out? That’s not a long time to get someone to stay, but a nice, easy to use website will help!
One of the easiest ways to make sure your site is simple to navigate is by having clear categories. If your site has a menu bar on the top, ensure that it’s easy to find and the font is legible. If it seems too cluttered, make headers with a drop down menu. Maybe your business offers a lot of services and they’re all listed on the homepage right now. While they might be easy to find, it creates a lot more text users have to cut through. Make a services tab with each service being a drop down option.
It’s also important to keep your website consistent throughout each page. If you have a header of services on the homepage, put it on every page. That way, no matter where a user ends up on your website, they’ll still be able to easily find where they want to go.
Another way to check the navigability of your website is to put yourself in the users position. Since you know the business best, you’ll know what your customers are looking for. That will make it easy to know what to look for on your site. About 50% of potential sales are lost because users can’t find the right information. If it doesn’t seem as simple as it should be for you, it definitely won’t be for your potential customers.
Keep in mind that many people will probably be looking at your website on their phones. Make sure your site is mobile friendly and still easy to navigate.
A website is a simple way to make a great first impression. But it could also be a great way to lose business! Take a minute to visit your own website as a guest. If you think it looks good and is easy to navigate, way to go! If not, we can help! Click here to get started!
Source: https://h2o-digital.com/navigation-extremely-important-building-website/
