Site navigation has real importance for your ROI, consumer loyalty and the perception of your brand as a whole. Therefore, in a shaft of holy light, we’re divulging the four essential commandments for building a website’s UI:
1. Thou shalt be a friend to mobile devices
It almost goes without saying that mobile and tablet browsing is a huge deal. You have to bear in mind that tiny, obscure links and buttons are going to frustrate users with a touchscreen, particularly if that screen is pocket-sized. The mobile version of your site should be paean to the pleasures of scrolling in bed or at the morning bus stop.
That equates to, potentially, building a single-scroll site: the kind that has all of your key points on the landing page, letting a user move down or up between them at the flick of a finger.
2. Thou shalt be logical
There’s faint embarrassment to seeing a product in the wrong place. Retailers, like a fashion company, would be ill-advised to lump a rogue hat in with coats and jackets, or any other catalogue that’s inappropriate to the purpose/context of the item. Online showcases need to make sense if people are going to find what they want.
Likewise, buyer suggestions – complementary drinks, for instance, to go with a food order – should be fluid, with a gallery of multiple picks to show that you know your industry and consumer tastes.
3. Thou shalt streamline
While you could probably talk all day about what you do, browsers won’t have the patience to search through a needless amount of web pages. So consider grouping sections into one page where appropriate: do you need ‘Our Team’ and ‘Our Mission’, for example, or could this become ‘About Us’?
Where it isn’t possible to streamline your products or services, make use of drop-down menus. A plumber, for instance, could showcase ‘Domestic’ and ‘Commercial’ tabs on their home page, with further options beneath.
4. Thou shalt provide shortcuts
For websites that necessitate a complex web of pages, it pays to provide shortcuts to the most popular destinations. That could be your latest offers, or perhaps an FAQ page that addresses common questions.
By presenting shortcuts on your home page, you can minimise the risk of visitors feeling bewildered when gazing at your site map. So pay attention to your on-site analytics, and connect the dots for your audience.
The Code Guy likes to act as a guiding light for anyone investing in their online presence, with smart, straight-talking advice and ongoing support after your site goes live. Get in touch to ask for more pronouncements in the coding universe, all of which will help you rein in the right type of clientele…