Friday 29 March 2013

Small Business Web Design – The Role of Navigation

Colour plays an important part in navigation.
Source: Flickr

Navigation plays a vital role in all small business websites. It is essential in conversion rate optimization. 

Users visit your website because they are interested in your products and services. If they are not able to locate these easily, they would simply favour your competitor over you. 

This is crucial if you own an e-commerce website where good navigation can be the difference between high bounce rate and high conversion rate. 

A neatly arranged and highly reliable navigation is essential to keep your users engaged. Here is a thing or two about tweaking your navigation for higher conversion rates.

Number of clicks

The number of clicks is one of the most important elements of website navigation. Your users must be able to access any desired product, from any point on your website, with the least number of clicks. This is very essential and can often lead to conversion. Try as much as possible to keep it simple for your customers to locate what they want and quickly reach the product pages. You can use any SEO tools to identify trends among your customers, and then suitably alter your web pages to make their work as easy as possible.

Navigation bar placement

Navigation bars can help users to identify where they are at present and how they can reach their desired page. Studies suggest that user observation move from the left side to the right. As a result, it is recommended that you place the navigation bar on the left side of your web page for easy recognition. You can also use the extra space on the left side to promote popular products and offers, as the navigation bar often runs through the width of your page.

Colour and navigation

Colour also plays an important role in website navigation. This is a very important element on web pages for all small business websites. The aesthetics of your site play an important role in attracting your target audience and keeping them engaged. The colours you use on your site will have a significant impact on the aesthetics. 

From complex eye-movement mappings, to simple design concepts, colours can make a huge difference to your conversion rate. As much as possible, try to maintain a contrast between, the background and the colour of your product images, to highlight your product. 

Using colour schemes that match your product while navigating to the product page can also help in easy navigation and add to the value of your product.

A great number of people today are relying on online stores to get the products and services that they desire. On the other hand, the number of e-commerce and small business websites are constantly on the rise. This makes it even more important to implement efficient navigation methods on your website, and to optimize your conversion rates. It is very important to keep the entire process as simple as possible so that, even those who are less adept in technology can benefit from your products and services.

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