How Does Website Navigation Improve Business Conversions?

Website navigation is an important aspect of distinguishing a brand. A systematic, organized, and transparent navigation system works as a blueprint for directing visitors to various pages and information on a website. It plays an important role in encouraging visitors to stay for long, use the content, and have a better user experience that can lead to more sales and brand loyalty.

Many businesses create website navigation as more of an afterthought after the pages and content. In fact, many internet users were able to predict the locations where important content would be based on the standard website navigation structure.

If users have trouble finding a page on the website, chances are that there is a problem in the UI/UX design of the website. This leads to lesser time on sites, low conversion rates, and high bounce rates. In case you are managing an e-commerce store, bad website navigation can negatively affect your bottom line and revenue.

In this blog, we will see how does website navigation improves business conversions. We will also learn some best practices that shed a light on the methods that should be implemented for smooth website navigation.

What is Website Navigation?

Website navigation can be termed as the process of navigating websites, applications, and pages on the internet. The technology responsible for smooth website navigation is called hypertext or hypermedia which is nothing but a text-based web page that uses hyperlinks for connecting one page to other pages on the internet.

A hyperlink is responsible for leading your web browser to a URL. This URL can indicate which file the browser should access from the server and it also downloads and renders the data so that the user can see it. The internal links are responsible for leading a user to different pages on the same domain and the external links lead to different pages on another web domain, an entirely different website and server.

The website navigation uses menus with internal links that make it easy for visitors to find pages that they are looking for. Most of the websites feature the menu at the top of the website. This section is commonly called a header in the website development language. Some common pages linked in the website menu include “About Us”, “Blog”, “Contact”, “Features”, “Plan and Pricing”, etc. Good navigation can be counted as an important element of a user-friendly site.

 

Importance of Website Navigation

It would be suitable to say that website navigation can either make or break the visitor experience. When you attempt to navigate a website without any logical or a well-defined structure, the user will feel stuck in a maze with no reference at all. The process can be frustrating, unpleasant, and overwhelming.

On the other hand, smooth website navigation can improve business conversions and turn a potentially negative user experience into a positive one. The website navigation structure has the capacity to have an immense impact on sales, conversions, and bounce rates. If the visitors feel that they cannot find what they are looking for then they are likely to leave and this is the last thing that any business would want. Therefore, making sure that there is a clear, structural, and specific website navigation is important because that enables visitors to find things instantly.

Website Navigation and User Experience

User experience is actually the way in which a visitor understands a website’s visibility and aesthetics. It is natural that all businesses would want to offer the best user experience to the visitors who come to a website. To make sure that happens, there are many aspects that play an important role such as fonts, colors, headlines, page load time, images, form designs, etc.

If the website navigation is not optimized properly then there is no point in thinking about offering a better user experience. Think for a second that a user comes on a website and is unable to find a web form conveniently. What do you think will happen? If you are thinking that the user will get irritated and leave, you are correct. No matter how attractive the website may be, if the website is not functional, the user will leave.

On the other hand, if the website navigation is optimized, the visitors can flow from one page to another without any problem. When the website development is done keeping in mind a better user experience, the visitors come back to the website again and again. This is precisely how conversions improve website navigation.

Businesses must remember that customers visit many websites each day and have no shortage of online platforms to find what they are looking for. In case you do not offer them smooth website navigation then they will not care to come back again. Instead, the competitor will have a better chance of winning the customer.

Ways to Improve Website Navigation

By now, we know that businesses must keep the visitors on the websites for exploring further and making a purchase. If the website is successful in optimization, the visitors will feel inspired to click on the links and they will be attracted to the offers. So we know that keeping the visitors engaged is what we need on the website but how do we do that?

Below, we will see some of the tips that can be implemented so that no conversions are lost. Some of the website navigation tips that help in improving conversions are mentioned below.

1. Customer Oriented

Oftentimes, it can be easy to get caught up in the minute details of running a business rather than staying focused on where the customers are coming from. However, falling into this trap while planning your website navigation can lead to a lot of confusion, high bounce rates, and frustration.

One of the best choices is to include a link to your portfolio in front of the customer. You can use secondary items in the sub-navigation that can make it easy to find important pages such as the contact page, pricing information, testimonials, request a quote form, etc. This way, the customer will have no problem finding what they came looking for and they will form a good impression.

2. Mobile Optimization

To ensure overall smooth website navigation, it is necessary to have a mobile responsive navigation menu that is essential to any website. The customers want the mobile user experience to be just as good as the desktop experience.

Hence, it is significant to offer the website visitors a responsive and optimized navigation bar that can guarantee an improvement in the mobile conversion rate. You can think of simplifying the navigation bar for your mobile website. The more useless options you offer to the visitors, the worse will be their user experience.

The website must have an effective mobile menu that conveys the most important things about a business. It should be as simple as that. Any inconsequential information that you may want to offer a user must be moved to the website’s footer.

3. Replace Drop Down Menu

If the options in the drop-down menu are complex or unfamiliar, you can consider replacing them with a detailed page. The usability research shows drop-down menus can be frustrating for users.

In addition, you will also have to let go of valuable information to make everything fit properly. Many prominent websites use this method to help customers navigate their support menu. As opposed to cramming all the support options into a drop-down menu, it is best to create a page that has different products to offer. The visuals then can make it easy to find the right options a simple thing to do.

Remember that website navigation is not the place for your creativity or clever tricks. It is necessary to use clear design and text so that the visitors can see and know what they mean. The website must have a clear and understandable flow so that the user experience can be seamless too.

4. Hypertext

A very common problem during website development is letting the design get in the way of functionality. In case the visitors cannot tell a hyperlink from a copy then this means that there is a problem. A very simple way to make the hypertext visible is by ensuring that it differs from all elements on the page and not when the visitors roll the link.

A great strategy is to edit it in a different color, underline it and also make the entire thing bold. In addition, you can also turn the header navigation link into buttons just as you think is correct and will please your visitors.

5. Navigation Bar

There are many websites that either has too many or too few links in the navigation bar. It is definitely important to think about what you want people to do on the website but you must also think about what the visitors may want. It has to be a two-way street. 

There is a possibility that you may want your visitors to get converted but your visitors may have just come to know more about the business or learn about what you are doing. If you think that the navigation menu begins to look somewhat cluttered then you can organize your website better. Use a heading and include a sub-menu with other link categories.

6. Sidebar Separation

The sidebar should not look like the content on the page. It is supposed to stand out so this means that the website development must be done focusing on colors. In fact, color psychology can be used for doing this.

The designers can edit the sidebar with background color as opposed to the body copy. Based on the preference of the website designer, different spaces can work very well. One just has to make sure that there is a significant separation between the sidebar and other elements.

7. Navigation Placement

It is great to use your creativity in the best ways that you can think are possible but never at the cost of an easy user experience. Therefore, make sure that the navigation is put in places where people can find it easily.

This includes things such as header navigation bar, sidebar, and footer. These spaces can be used so that the visitors can find what they need properly. In case you wish to add creative navigation like using multimedia then you must make it obvious so that the users can click.

8. Call to Action Buttons

Not so long ago, many websites used to have buttons for header navigation. However, in the present time, all the visual noise can often feel clunky. It can feel that you are not being allowed to focus on links in your website navigation.

Focus on reversing all the unnecessary buttons to the call to action buttons. You can also make it a practice to ask your visitors for signing up for an email list, scheduling a call, and showing a demo for your product. No matter what the case may be, the call to action buttons must be more than other links.

Conclusion

It is necessary to keep in mind that if the business succeeds in website navigation then the visitors will continue to browse and take desired actions such as creating an account, completing a purchase, and then exiting finally. More than anything, the business conversions will improve significantly and the visitors will talk about the amazing user experience offered by the website.

By giving careful attention to your website goals and the kind of visitors that you have, the website navigation can be planned and designed. Make sure that the visitors can find the functionality that they are looking for on the website by taking digital marketing support from an online marketing company.

Encaptechno offers a detailed report for your website’s navigation. Get in touch with us to make sure that your website is offering a good website navigation experience to your esteemed customers so that your conversions do not suffer.