Menu is a basic navigation element whose task is to efficiently distribute traffic on the website according to the intentions of people browsing the website. It should therefore be as intuitive and clear as possible.
It would seem that the menu is one of those elements of websites that are created in a quite obvious way. As practice shows, this is not always the case. You can click here and have all information present.
Errors in the course of navigating design basically concern two extreme issues: not using basic practices to which users are accustomed or – on the contrary – excessive combining and presenting creativity to strength.
So how to design a website’s menu to make it easier to navigate the website? Check the tips below to help you
Use a simple and clear naming
There are some standard types of subpages whose naming has been established over the years.
- It’s hard to imagine another name for the “Contact” tab. Sometimes – depending on the design of the page, you will find the terms “Write to us” or “Contact us”, but usually they are headings of individual sections.
- The same applies to the subpage that presents the work of a given company or author. “Realizations”, “Gallery”, “Portfolio”, “Projects” – deviations from these names is also rare.
- The key is to use the nomenclature understood by the target group , ie the users for whom the website is intended.
There is nothing to combine with fancy names. What counts above all is the clarity and speed of finding the desired information and the clarity of the naming has a significant impact on it.
Get the smallest possible number of items
Nobody likes chaos. If you think about how to design a website menu, it should be the basic principle simplicity.
The top menu should consist of only the most necessary information. Remember that this is not the only place where you can post links to subpages. You can also use the bottom of the page, as links are often found in the footer.
This mainly applies to subpages that are not the most important. They contain some minor, side information that only serves those who are really interested in a given (usually more detailed) theme.
Of course, there will be voices that such generalization is also bad, because some websites (especially online stores) are so extensive that there is no physical possibility to include only a few links in the top menu. In such situations, the so-called Mega-menus:
Staples, how to design a website’s menu?
In the screenshot above, we have a three-level menu.The first level, marked with a red border, presents the individual departments of the store. Then each department has its own minor categories (marked in yellow). In turn, the categories are divided into even narrower product types (green color).
How to design a website menu?
In the above graphic we have an example of how to design a website menu using detailed categories and images in the menu. In my opinion, this is a great example of the organization of the menu, in which the attached graphics additionally suggest what products we are dealing with in a given department.