Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Initial Steps to Improve Your Site Navigation



Proper website navigation is something that you need to focus on at all times. You can still rank with poor navigation, but keep in mind that search engines look at bounce rates, too. Think of your website as a theme park, where you need directions to reach the place you want, and without these directions you're simply going to get lost. We are confident you came into this article knowing the importance of effective navigation, so let's move into the heart of the matter. For more information: brightmedia

Even relatively small sites should have that little search box on the upper right hand side; so make sure your sites have it too. One curious thing about this is people expect to see it, and if you do not have it then that could be a negative. There are so many things that can annoy your visitors, and you can get a good idea just by thinking about your own habits when you are on the net. As has been mentioned, blogs come with the search function, so this really is an issue only for HTML sites or non-blog sites.

One thing about content and information is you have to find the sweet spot in terms of what you present on your site. How you use your navigation and the overall structure will of necessity need to mesh with how you structure the rest of your site elements. So once again we will say that all the various elements and site pages have to work well together. Remember that if you do not deliver on this point your visitors will end up navigating away from your site.

The names that you use in your menu options should be common and easy to understand. Don't complicate the whole process by using new names that people aren't familiar with. The more common generic names that are used across the net are a good way to go. Remember that you have to always go with what is easy and not involved when it comes to thinking.

Even though you know navigation is important, you should understand why and know how to make it the best it can be. One point we did not go into was the high importance of effective anchor text for your links. You know how you react when you are on sites that have poor navigation, and you most likely do not stay there very long either. So go ahead and put these tips into action and see for yourself how they fall into place to give your visitors a better user experience.



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