Steps to improve your website navigation

Any person with knowledge of web design will tell you that user experience is of vital importance. How well your design is will directly influences how potential customers will perceive your business, and the likelihood of them going from a potential customer to a paying customer.

A big part of the user experience is how a website design is navigated. Most people who have browsed the internet can think of times when a bad website design has resulted in them simply leaving the website.

Now not every website is for a business, so for some, user experience isn�t as important. However the ability to keep customers engaged is important if you�re trying to convert them into a paying customer.

So here are some steps that you can follow to improve the navigation on your website.

Improving your website navigation

• Consistency. This is critical to keeping customers on your page. You want to make sure that the layout and navigation of your site stays the same on each page, otherwise customers will be having to constantly re-acquaint themselves with your site. Ensuring consistency across your site increases the ease of use, making it easier for your customers to find the information that they need.

• Be descriptive. This is along the same lines as consistency. Being accurate and descriptive in the way that your links and menus are worded will mean that the customer should have a good idea of what they�re going to find before the page even loads. Confusing wording can frustrate users, leading to a reduced user experience.

• Searching is critical. Sometimes customers won�t know exactly what they�re looking for, or even where to find it. Particularly if you have an online store, your ecommerce layout needs to have search options. Your customers will have different ideas of what categories certain items fall under. This means that they are likely to turn to the search function for your site. So make sure that it works well, and searches not only for item names, but also for terms within each page, the descriptions, and even takes into account common misspellings of words.

• Be organised. While it might sound great to have a completely revolutionary design that has never been seen before, one of the fundamental aspects of a good web design is organisation and simplicity. There are other ways to entice and excite your customers, but there needs to be a logical structure to the website that is easy to understand.

For a great ecommerce website and online marketing solution, head over to Alinga Web Design and check out our portfolio. Like what you see? Contact us and one of our friendly staff will be more than happy to help you.