In this article, we want to talk about the importance of website navigation designs. A website without a clear and convenient structure can hardly be called attractive to a visitor. You simply cannot find the information you need here. Consider website navigation design best practices. First of all, pay attention to the main elements, and then the navigation around the site will be clear to the user. In good website navigation examples, the main elements are the directory navigation system and the main menu, the structure of information blocks, and hyperlinks.
Websites with poor design are difficult to work with and are not popular with people who decide to look at them one day. Information becomes difficult to access, and it seems that there is so much of it on the site and it is so difficult to process that the visitor is forced to switch to another resource. A successful site structure, on the other hand, allows you to easily find the information you need, return to the pages viewed, and then use the found for your own purposes.
Best SaaS website designs are based on the idea that all visitors who visit the site should understand what is happening here. Optimal navigation is based on a clear arrangement of site elements and their design options. The system as a whole and the links between the pages should be as transparent as possible.
• Linear navigation is navigation in which there is a sequential transition from page to page (or to a given page). This navigation method is typical for viewing a series of photographs or documents of the same type or descriptions. Linear navigation is applicable to any catalogs with a linear structure.
• Hierarchical navigation links many documents (catalog sections) in a single hierarchical scheme. It allows you to efficiently navigate from one page of the site to another. An analogue of working with hierarchical navigation is the folder system in the operating system.
• Faceted navigation is multidimensional navigation through network structures in which each node is a filter by a specific property.
Another classification is distinguished in the structure of modern apps and sites:
1. Context-sensitive navigation is built taking into account the current context (the content of the displayed page of the site). When using this type of navigation, the user is presented with a list of links to other sections (documents, products) that are somehow related to the current one. Such navigation is typical, for example, for news feeds that combine news and materials of the same type into one block. In this case, an individual list of links is created for each news article, formed according to a certain principle. The principle itself is set by the site owner based on the logic that he is trying to convey to the user. In an application to trading platforms, this can be: navigation to related products (from a phone to accessories, from a washing machine to a washing powder, from a laptop to services for setting up and installing software), a list of similar products (by price, method of use).
2. Responsive navigation means changing in real time the links and navigation of the site based on user behavior and individual settings. Modern websites support advanced personalization tools based on automatic analysis of the behavior of many users. By highlighting typical templates and offering them to other users, you can predict their intentions, speed up and make it easier to find the information you need.
• Use a descriptive headline with keywords.
• Don’t place all calls to action at the top of the page.
• Design long pages (but not too long). Answer any questions your site visitors might have.
• Showcase one product or service on one page so as not to distract attention.
