Your eCommerce store’s navigation is its bread and butter. If your users cannot browse your site to accomplish their purpose (which is most likely to find and purchase a product), your site is unlikely to convert, and consumers may switch to a competitor’s site.
There are numerous factors to successful site navigation, from a clear site structure to working search functionality. On the other hand, your navigation menu is an important feature that doesn’t often get the attention it needs. A shaky or unavailable navigation menu will precipitate your site’s demise. But have no fear:
by paying attention to these five factors, you can ensure that your navigation menu is effective, optimized, and accessible to everyone.
Follow the trends in the sector.
Standing out in crowded markets often necessitates breaking the mold and inventing. When it comes to digital, especially eCommerce, however, deviating from industry standards can be costly. If not thoroughly evaluated, new and novel patterns in eCommerce can often result in an inaccessible solution. When it comes to enterprises with large quantities of products on offer, deviating from normal procedures in eCommerce can be disastrous.
Users have grown to anticipate site navigation to be located in specific places, such as at the very top of the screen, on the left side, on-page navigation, or a sticky bar at the bottom of the screen for applications and mobile. When you depart from these typical locations, you risk making your users’ journey more difficult unless you have user research ideas and data to back up this shift in behavior.
On the desktop, switch to a mega menu.
With out-of-the-box templates and designs, regular dropdown menus are usually the default. On the other hand, Mega menus deliver a better user experience than a standard dropdown menu, according to a study. Why? Because a mega menu displays everything, including subcategories, at a glance and all at once. On the other hand, an essential dropdown list can be extensive and need scrolling to see all options. A mega menu also gives your business more versatility, allowing you to integrate imagery and content links so that users get more out of their visit. They also make it easier to classify and organize material because you can show up to three layers of navigation.
Show the users what they desire.
What is displayed in your navigation menu categories or sections significantly impacts how successful it is for your users. This is dependent on several things, including the quantity and complexity of your items and website, but a general rule is that customers should not have to search too hard for popular categories. Placing your most popular or significant links at the top and bottom of the list will ensure that they are easier to find and discover since they will be the first and last items that your users view and have a higher impact.
If you’re unsure what these categories are, a card sorting exercise combined with some site analytics can help you match your navigation to users’ expectations.
Don’t keep the user in the dark about what’s going on.
Websites can be perplexing at times, especially when there are numerous sections, categories, and content types to consider. Users frequently fall into multiple rabbit holes with no obvious way to return to their starting position, which could lose your organization a conversion if the starting point was a product page. To avoid this, and to ensure that your users are not confused, here are some strategies to keep them informed:
Tab titles: By giving your tabs distinct titles, users will know where they are right away.
Human-readable URLs – an often-overlooked component, URLs are a simple and effective way to indicate to your readers where they are on your site; they act as a default breadcrumb and are especially useful if your site contains page links within page links.
Breadcrumbs: As previously noted, breadcrumbs are excellent for quickly notifying users where they are on your site and how they got there.
Make headlines as straightforward and informative as possible so that the user knows exactly what they will find on that page—descriptive headers aid in discovering specific content and serve as a navigational aid for screen-reader users.
Your graphics are crucial.
Your users care about the way you design. A good user interface design may impact your users and help them understand your brand and values. There are a few best practices to remember when it comes to your navigation menu:
Make sure your links have their styling and are obvious to users, so they know they’re clickable rather than just text. Don’t leave them in the dark.
Sticking with links, make sure they’re large enough for users to click, especially on mobile devices. Your users’ thumbs are all different sizes, and their motor abilities are all different levels; don’t make your links difficult for them.
Don’t overdo important accent colors; for example, putting your sale color in places other than your sale can detract from the impact you want.
Maintain clean and uncluttered navigation as much as feasible. Your navigation menu is a valuable aspect of your site that gets users from point A to B. Clean, and straightforward navigation will perform better than one that gives each category equal prominence.
Finally, you can ensure that your site’s navigation meets visitors’ expectations and helps them achieve their utilization goals by considering these five elements. We offer posts on how to improve your mobile commerce experience and how to guarantee your user experience is ready for forthcoming sales times if you want to learn more about how to improve your site.