Browsing from one page to the other of a website can really be confusing and frustrating. So much so, that many users simply give up. As a web designer and developer it is essential to plan your navigational menu, taking the user’s’ point of view into serious consideration.
A simple menu is not always enough for a user-friendly interface, and it may need specific requirements for it to be more streamlined.
Each individual type of website needs specific navigational requirements, depending on what type of users, services and products it is trying to target and market. Here are a few stereotype websites and the best changes that you should implement in order to keep your readers interested and motivated to stay on your website.
How to Find all that Content on News Websites?
News websites are a head-scratcher as they have a huge amount of content to place, which can easily lead to confusion as to what news is relative to which category and so on. The navigational menu is an absolute priority; otherwise the news items are lost on the readers.
A simple navigational menu on the top bar with a home button and several categories is simply not feasible, as readers would not be able to explore many other important facets of the website. People using news websites are looking for content and information, thus they need a more extensive navigational system within which to browse and find the news item, they are interested in.
Less Confusing Marketplaces
You can develop a Marketplace website by blending this intricacy of actions with a touch of minimalism, to allow users an ease of comprehension and action. By developing a simple to use navigational menu that will take readers to all categories featured on the website, you can help users browse effectively and purchase the items.
The search system is also fundamental, as this will allow for successful search results whenever users cannot find items they need. Keep in mind that a successful marketplace website needs to develop an effective menu as well as an inclusive search system.
Create an Easy to Read Blog
Blogs are an extremely popular way of keeping up to date and marketing services as well as products. The characteristic of blogs is that most of them are content rich, this is why it is a good idea to divide your various articles into different categories, allowing readers to navigate more effectively and easily within the site.
To add to the ease and user-friendly options, try adding a list of these categories in the navigational menu, so that users can easily browse through the different blog content. Keep in mind that if your blog has a lot of content in it, then you will need to list all categories on each page of your blog, an added user-friendly tool to keep your readers’ attention.
The Power of E-Commerce Websites
The latest boom in e-commerce marketing has made it necessary to keep up with the fast-growing competition. You cannot afford to live on the initial creation of an e-commerce website; you must follow it and keep-it up to date at all times.
However, you have an advantage. Most e-commerce websites are very complex, and understandably so as they need to cover many aspects within the website, from navigational links, to the browsing of items and on to the actual shopping cart, sale and payment process.
Review Website so Much Information to Classify
Websites that deal with consumer products and services reviews have to deal with an enormous amount of content and an interactive platform to manage, where users leave comments on the different items.
It is no easy feat to make all this easy to browse through, and you cannot organize all this into one navigational system. One way to simplify this is to add a menu style show, where a drop down menu will appear when you hover over an item. This allows for less clutter and for a better platform on which to categorize almost every product or service.
These are just a few cases of website styles; however, by now you have understood the importance of the different navigational types. Is your navigational menu puzzling your readers? Is it blending in nicely with the overall look? And will it get the users to where they wish to go? Answer these basic questions and you should get a great navigational system running.