Happy holidays to our visitors and website families:
Our blog this week will be all about website layout. When visitors browse the website the most important thing to remember is to keep everything simple and easy to understand. We’ll discuss a few important rules to follow as you consider a new layout and new re-design for the new year. Keeping the layout clean and user-friendly as you organize the navigational structure. This is the key to developing an updated and successful site for the new year.
The navigational system:
The basic role of the navigation system (your menu selections) is to get your viewer to their page destination quickly and efficiently. The best navigation systems are the ones that are barely noticed and stay in their place (thus allowing viewers to read more content). The menu should appear on each page. Additionally, each site should have a site map (normally in the footer area) to allow easy movement back and forth between the web pages.
Keep navigation (site menu) out-of-the-way of content …
Many designers and site owners are choosing a menu system which hugs the left side of the page (allowing the reader to quickly read the content) separating the site content from the menu. Likewise, top menu systems are also popular (depending upon your preference). Again, the top and left most-most edges of the page are the most called for navigational systems.
Menu choices should be kept to a minimum
The navigational choices should be as few as possible. Visual elements (such as search boxes, site maps, embedded links should be kept to the minimum as they could easily hamper navigational progress as viewers read from page to page. On the other hand, a “call to action” element such as a “GET INFO” button will improve any site’s conversion rate.
Viewer attention span is short … 30 seconds or less
Please keep in mind the average viewer will stay on the site only a few seconds. They will not be reading every word and visit every page of the site. They want to quickly find the page with the content to answer their concerns. Keep the content on the home page brief. We recommend about 200 words with a description of your product or service. Another suggestion is to put a few well-thought out bullets explaining your main services and a warm and friendly image to welcome viewers. This can go a long way in improving the viewer’s web experience.
Enjoy the Christmas Holiday …
Hurry back to visit the Design Wizards!
