How to Check Your Website for Major Navigation Improvements

Website navigation plays a crucial role in the overall user experience. Poor navigation can lead to frustration, high bounce rates, and lost conversions. Here’s a detailed guide to evaluate and improve your website’s navigation, ensuring it’s efficient, user-friendly, and tailored to your audience’s needs.

A clear and logical site structure is the foundation of good navigation. Begin by mapping out your website’s information architecture:

• Hierarchy: Organise content into categories, subcategories, and pages that follow a logical flow. Primary categories should be broad (e.g. Services, Products), with more specific pages under each one (e.g. SEO Services, Web Design).
• Breadth vs Depth: Avoid making the structure too shallow (too many top-level categories) or too deep (pages hidden within too many clicks). Aim for balance, users should find what they need within 2-3 clicks from the homepage.

• Create a sitemap to visualise your structure. Tools like Slickplan or Lucidchart can help you see the navigation at a glance, making it easier to spot inefficiencies.

Good navigation should cater to all users, including those with disabilities. Evaluate whether your navigation is accessible to everyone:

• Keyboard Navigation: Can users navigate through your site without a mouse? Ensure that all interactive elements (buttons, links, forms) are keyboard accessible.
• Screen Reader Compatibility: Ensure your navigation is compatible with screen readers. This includes using aria-labels for menu items and ensuring a clear reading order.

• Test your navigation with assistive technology tools like VoiceOver for Apple or NVDA for Windows. Consider using WAVE, a web accessibility evaluation tool, to identify areas for improvement.

With over 50% of web traffic coming from mobile devices, mobile friendly navigation is critical. Here’s what to check:

• Responsive Menus: Ensure your navigation menu adapts to various screen sizes. On mobile, use a hamburger menu (the three lines) that expands to show the full menu.
• Touch Targets: Buttons and links should be large enough to tap easily. A good rule of thumb is a minimum size of 48×48 pixels for touch targets.
• Scrollable Content: Ensure that menus and content sections are easily scrollable on mobile without causing confusion or unintentional clicks.

• Test your navigation across a wide range of devices using Google’s Mobile Friendly Test and tools like BrowserStack to simulate different screen sizes and resolutions.

Cognitive load refers to how much mental effort users need to expend to navigate your website. Simplifying navigation can help users find what they need faster:

• Minimise Choices: Too many options can overwhelm visitors. Stick to 5-7 primary navigation items and limit dropdowns to two levels.
• Visual Cues: Use visual elements like bold fonts, icons, and colours to guide users and help them understand which links are primary or secondary.

• Conduct user testing to see how easily visitors find key pages. Tools like Hotjar provide heatmaps and session recordings to show how users interact with your navigation.

The labels in your navigation should be descriptive and predictable. Users should immediately know where a link will take them based on the label.

• Avoid Jargon: Use simple, familiar language. For example, instead of “Services Overview,” use “Our Services” or just “Services.”
• Consistency: Keep the same terms across your website. If your homepage calls it “Contact Us,” don’t use “Get in Touch” on another page.

• Conduct a card sorting test using tools like Optimal Workshop to see how real users group and label information. This will help you create intuitive navigation labels.

Internal links within your content help users navigate between related pages, while breadcrumbs allow users to see their location and easily backtrack to previous sections.

• Internal Links: Place internal links to related articles or products within the content to guide users deeper into your site.
• Breadcrumbs: These are especially useful for larger sites, such as e-commerce platforms, as they reduce the number of clicks needed to navigate.

• Implement breadcrumb navigation on category and product pages. Make sure each part of the breadcrumb trail is clickable, leading back to broader sections of the site.

low-loading navigation elements, such as JavaScript-heavy dropdowns, can negatively affect user experience. A delay in loading can cause users to abandon your site.

• Fast Loading Menus: Ensure that menus load quickly without unnecessary animations or delays.
• Responsive on All Browsers: Test your navigation on various browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge to ensure compatibility.

• Run a PageSpeed Insights test from Google to identify and resolve slow-loading elements. Optimise images, reduce unnecessary code, and consider using lazy loading for large assets.

Navigation affects SEO in multiple ways. A clean and well-organised navigation helps search engines crawl and index your site more effectively.

• Internal Link Structure: Ensure your internal linking points to important pages that need ranking signals.
• Anchor Text: Use descriptive and relevant anchor text for your internal links, making it clear what the linked page is about.

• Use tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb to crawl your site and analyse your internal linking structure. Make sure search engines can easily follow and index your main pages.

Improving website navigation isn’t just about aesthetics, it directly impacts usability, SEO, and conversion rates. By following these detailed steps, you can refine your website’s navigation, creating a smoother experience for users and improving your overall business performance. At Web Butler, we specialise in designing intuitive, user-friendly navigation systems that make your website work harder for your business.