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Make Your Navigation Highly Visible
by: Jamie Kiley
Effective
navigation stands out. It's clear, obvious,
and highly visible.
You'll need to
have a clear section of the page designated
for navigation--one that a visitor will
immediately recognize as the navigation area
when he arrives at the site. Navigation
should not necessarily be the prime focus,
but it must be highly visible.
On many sites,
the main navigation is overly subdued. It
sort of "lurks" on the page, but it's not
the kind of thing that really gets to a
visitor's consciousness. It gets drowned out
because there is too much color or
excitement in the rest of the page.
Occasionally,
this is ok. You may have some navigation
options, such as a privacy policy, that need
to be available, but don't need to be
emphasized.
However, aside
from those few exceptions, you'll want your
navigation to be used. So it will need a
voice loud enough to be heard above the
excitement of the rest of the site.
Here are 4
tips to make sure your navigation stands
out:
1. Put it in a
prime spot
It's all about
positioning. Give your main navigation good
placement at the top or left of the page.
When visitors
arrive at a page, they scan in an orderly
pattern from left to right, starting in the
top left corner and working down the page.
So if your navigation is at the top or on
the left, it's going to be seen fairly
quickly. Also, this is where visitors expect
to find navigation, so they'll be primed to
notice it there.
2. Use color
Besides size,
color is the best way to get something
noticed on a page. You can use color very
powerfully in drawing out your navigation.
A very common
technique is to place navigation options on
a colored field, on a horizontal bar or a
sidebar. This is effective because it
creates a strong contrast with other
elements on the page.
Just remember,
the brightest, most vivid, most saturated
colors will stand out the most. You don't
necessarily need to use a strong color for
your navigation, but you do need to look at
how your navigation color mixes with the
rest of the page.
If you have a
very bright site, pale colors in your
navigation won't cut it. But if the site is
fairly subdued, even a hint of color to draw
out your navigation will be plenty of
contrast.
3. Give it
space
If your
navigation has a lot of clutter around it,
it stands a smaller chance of getting
noticed. In a busy situation, people do not
notice detail. It's very hard for them to
pick out specific items. Think about the
difficulty of trying to find somebody in a
crowded room.
Visitors will
pick out the elements of your page that have
the most breathing room. So be sure to leave
plenty of space around your navigation.
Don't let other elements--especially other
text--get so close that the navigation is
crowded out.
4. Separate it
from ads
If want your
navigation to be noticed, keep it away from
ads.
People on the
web are highly suceptible to "banner
blindness". That's a real condition in which
people ignore anything that is associated
with an ad. Since most people are not fond
of ads they try to avoid them. So keep ads
and navigation physically separated. Don't
let them get mixed together.
Two key
pointers: never put navigation above the
logo. Since banners are frequently located
in the center of the top of the page, that's
a prime spot to be ignored.
Also, if you
have a blank, empty white space between your
logo and something on the right side of the
page, be very careful about filling it with
navigation. It will be confused with banners
simply because of guilt by association.
In addition to
physically separating ads and navigation,
you should make sure that your navigation
doesn't LOOK like an ad. Square or
rectangular buttons and images at the top
and sides of the page are especially
problematic.
For example,
take a look at Notice that the member
login button is not very obvious as
navigation. It has an ad-like appearance and
it's in an area of the page where visitors
would expect to see an ad.
Critically
evaluate all of your buttons and images to
make sure they won't be mixed up with ads.
Don't leave any confusion in a visitor's
mind about where ads stop and navigation
begins.
Position,
color, space, and separation from ads. There
you have it--four tips for making your
navigation stand out.
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