Simple Website Navigation Menu
The Danger of Choice –
Have you ever visited a website that bombarded you with so many navigation menu items that you went berserk? How did it make you feel? You probably felt exhausted after scanning the mile of possible options and developed “analysis paralysis”. A good example of when this human condition springs into life is when a consumer is presented with too many choices at the supermarket. If it was an either or decision then the action to purchase can be made swiftly and with less label comparisons. But introduce 4, 5 or 6 options and studies have proven this to be Kryptonite to the best of super shoppers.
The Goal of Your Website
Sometimes, and especially with small business web design, less is actually more. Think about what you truly want to achieve when a visitor lands on your website. Is your goal to impress them by having every single category related to your industry visible to the eye? Or is your goal to have the visitor take quick and immediate action? If you answered the former, then you’re probably already wealthy beyond reason. For most of us the primary goal of a website is to have a visitor take action by delving deeper into our website through a button, link or menu item or by contacting us via email, contact form or phone.
Horizontal vs. Vertical Menu Layouts
The decision to use a horizontal or vertical navigation layout is based on style preference. There are many more design options that contain a horizontal layout but I find that a vertically oriented menu system provides better visibility of the content on a page. It also enables you to have more content above the fold. However, in most cases I go with a horizontal layout simple based on the former point regarding design options. A vertical menu can also afford you the flexibility to include more menu items without making a page look to cluttered.
Take Action Now!
To organize your menu system start with a spreadsheet, a piece of paper or a mind map. I’ve used all three but in most cases I start with an “old school” sheet of paper. Write down your primary services and/or products and then decide if you want them all under one page or if you want to build a sub-page hierarchy. If you decide on sub-pages you can manually create a mind map by following these instructions:
- Start with a blank piece of paper
- Write “Services” or “Products” at the center of the page and circle it
- Write the different categories evenly dispersed around the central circle and circle each categories
- If there are sub-categories then write down the sub-categories around each category and circle each sub-category
Now determine what other pages your website needs. The traditional pages found on a Small Business Website are:
- Home
- About Us
- Products and/or Services and sub-pages
- Testimonials and/or Reviews
- Blog
- Contact Us
Multiple Menus
In some cases the home page link can be your logo which can free up some more space in your menu. It is also possible with some web designs to have multiple menu systems. If this is an option for your website then you can place the most important items to your website visitors on the primary menu and place the lesser important menu items in a footer menu or a secondary menu in the header of your website. For example you might want to put the “About Us” menu item in the secondary or the footer menu. While it is important to you and it should be readily found it is not necessarily a catalyst to generating your desired goal or a phone call, email or walk-in visit.
Bad Example
This is a bad example of a navigation menu. It looks like they tried to feature as many items but at the same time it’s difficult at first for a visitor to know where to go.
Good Example
This is a great example of a navigation menu. As you can see they have two menus. The primary menu is in the horizontal grey bar and the secondary menu is just above. This two menu system makes for a easy navigation and doesn’t make the site feel cluttered at all.
If you need help building your website don’t hesitate to contact HiTouchWeb. We’ll build an affordable small business website that converts visitors into customers. See our affordable website packages for more details.