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Keep Your Navigation Simple!
by: Jamie Kiley
Navigation
must be simple. Since it's the backbone of
your site, it's imperative that visitors be
able to understand it. Here are two tips on
how to make simplicity a reality in your
site:
1. Your link
titles need to be understandable.
Visitors need
to know exactly what link to click on for
the info they need. Unfortunately, visitors
frequently get confused and don't understand
what a link means. Consequently, they aren't
sure what info they'll find at the other end
of the link.
Often, a link
name that makes complete sense to you will
mean nothing to the visitor. For example, I
once used a link called "Resources" in the
navigation bar of a site for a client. This
section of the site contained various
articles and links to outside sites with
helpful information.
However, after
a little bit of testing, I discovered that
most people had no idea what I meant by
"Resources". They didn't know what kind of
information was in that area. Also, when
visitors tried to look for articles, they
didn't think to check the Resources section.
In other
words, the link wasn't doing anyone any
good.
The difference
between your understanding of a term and a
visitor's understanding of the same term can
be rather drastic. This happens because you
are so close to your own business and your
own site.
It's important
to remember that visitors don't know nearly
as much about your business as you do. They
often have no background knowledge, and they
might not know standard terms in your
industry. Sometimes, you'll have to work to
come up with terms and phrases for your
links that are meaningful to the visitor.
Here's one
general principle: Don't use clever terms.
Although
clever attention-getters often work well in
the offline world, it's different online. In
character with their generally hurried
attitude, web users want to know exactly
where they are going and what they will find
when they click on a link. They don't like
guessing games and are usually not enticed
by clever lead-ins. What lies beyond them is
simply not clear.
Cleverness
doesn't belong in navigation unless you're
positive the meaning will be understood by
everyone. You should avoid anything that
isn't straightforward and clear. Steer away
from any terms that obscure what your links
are really about.
Also, you
should be very careful about using
industry-specific terms. You might be
suprised to find out how much of your lingo
doesn't make sense to people who aren't
familiar with your industry. Carefully
evaluate each of your links to make sure
you're not using a confusing term.
2. Navigation
options need to be kept to a minimum
The second way
you can simplify your navigation is to make
the amount of options manageable. Visitors
tend to get overwhelmed if you give them too
many choices. They aren't able to focus.
Rather than seeing each individual option,
they only see a mass of links.
An additional
reason not to include too many links is that
you ordinarily shouldn't send visitors in a
lot of different directions. If you've
established a primary goal for your site
(you have, haven't you?), your site should
revolve around accomplishing that goal. So
it's in your best interest to keep the
options down. That way, you're able to steer
your visitors in the direction you want them
to go.
Keep your
navigation menus to 5-7 options or less.
That's the max amount you can have without
losing your visitors' concentration. Any
more than that, and they aren't able to
discern an individual choice.
If you find
yourself having more than 5-7 options in
each of your navigation menus, try to pare
them down. It's better to simplify the list
and make sure visitors can evaluate
everything than to cram everything in when
visitors will miss most of it.
If you really
need more than 7 links, group the links into
a few categories. Although this can still
get overwhelming, it helps significantly if
you categorize links for visitors. They can
latch onto one category and narrow it down
from there, rather than having to deal with
the whole list at once.
Overall, try
to objectively evaluate your navigation from
the point of view of a visitor. If you can,
get input from people who aren't familiar
with your site or your business. They'll be
a great resource in helping you determine
whether or not your links are confusing or
overwhelming.
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