Here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design experts. We provide, high quality, effective, web design solutions for local companies and businesses across Manchester, and the surrounding area, including Wigan and Southport. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about website navigation bar usability.
Important considerations for website navigation bar usability
Using a navigation bar to improve the usability of your website is really a no-brainer. Even websites that don’t use a navigation bar, use a very similar and simple system. And they are few and far between. So what are the navigation bar options for usability? Well, there are several considerations to take into account. These include:
- using icons or text to create the navigation bar headers
- using sub-pages to categorise the website pages
- using colour schemes to improve usability
- how to display the navigation bar
Icons or text for the navigation bar
Should you use plain and simple text for your navigation bar? Well, this is probably the most common way of organising your navigation bar. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways. Using icons is a different approach that has worked really well for apps and social media sites. And because of the smaller screen size on mobile devices, this approach has suited these types of websites. But would your website suit this? Well, that depends on a number of questions:
- can you make your icons easily recognizable? So that users will instinctively navigate your website without the words? Or will they be confused and become frustrated?
- can you create icons that will fit with your company branding?
- will your icons be responsive for all screen sizes?
Ultimately, text can make your navigation bar easier to use, but if your icons can meet the criteria, then why not add some personality?
Using sub-pages
Sub pages are a great way to organise your content into different categories. This will help users know where to look for specific information and make your website more user friendly. Presenting too many options as one long list can become confusing and tiresome, while having too many sub-lists also causes the same problems. So finding the right balance is essential. The aim of your navigation system should be to direct users to the specific area of inquiry, in as few clicks, and as little time, as possible. And doing so will improve the user experience of your website, and prevent potential customers adding to your bounce rate.
How to display the navigation bar
However you decide to display your navigation bar, it needs to be easy to find. That’s why so many navigation bars are spread across the top of the page. Where it is impossible to miss. At the same time, other companies use a “sticky” navigation bar that follows the users scroll. This means that users don’t need to scroll all the way to the top of the page to find the navigation options. In addition, some companies use a hamburger menu, to hide the navigation bar behind. Ultimately, each of these different navigation options work well for different websites. So choose the option that is best suited to you.
For more information or for professional web design support across Manchester, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.