How many links are in your navbar?
Hey everyone!
This week I want to talk about the 80/20 of website navigations:
- Common mistakes
- Your navigation bar is the treasure map
- How to do this on your website
The reason is because most small businesses overcomplicate the navbar (short for navigation bar). But once you understand how to use navbars, then you will give your ideal customer a clear map for navigating the website.
Let’s dive in!
The navbar is the key to your customer’s website journey
In order to make it easy for your ideal customer, you first need to make sure you don’t make a few of the most common mistakes:
- Too many links: I see this all the time, and really hurts how well your website performs. You need to tell your user where to go, don’t give them every option possible.
- Not being clear: Don’t try to be clever with your navbar links. Focus on clarity and letting your ideal customer know exactly what happens when they click the link.
- Not using dropdowns: Don’t take up all the space on your navigation bar with links. This creates clutter and confusion.
The reason people tend to make these mistakes is because they don’t understand the purpose of the navbar. And as a result, they keep themselves stuck believing it doesn’t matter.
The treasure map for your website
Like most things with your website, you need to reframe your mindset about navbars.
They are not a dumping ground for all the links on your website.
They are a treasure map for your ideal customer.
Providing them with the different paths to what they are looking for.
But every ideal customer is going to need a slightly different treasure map.
One that caters to their needs, wants, and problems.
Think long and hard about what links you allow to go there. If they don’t give your customer a clear path to success, there is a good chance you don’t need that link.
Practical tips for your website navbar
Now that you understand the thinking behind your website navbar, you need practical tips.
Each business is going to use the navbar differently, but here are some guidelines to using it in a way that acts as a treasure map for your ideal customer.
Use dropdowns in your navbar
If you are a larger company, using dropdowns can allow people to not be overwhelmed when landing on your website but allow them to find what they are looking for.
An example of this is a Resources dropdown with Blog, Media, and Podcast.
This makes it easy for your visitors to find the info they are looking for, but isn’t distracting.
Move links to the footer
If you have a lot of links on your website, the best practices approach is to move them to the footer.
The footer is the “junk drawer” of your website. It’s the place where you can put all the links on your website. If an ideal customer is looking for something specific they will go here.
Don’t waste valuable real estate in the navbar.
Focus on the call to actions, not links
Your website should be calling people to action.
If you have a lot of links in the header, you are minimizing the importance of your call to action. This means people will just spend time exploring different pages before getting tired and exiting the website.
You want them to take action.
That’s it!
As always, thanks for reading.
Luke
When you’re ready, here are ways I can help
Website Handbook: An ebook designed for small business owners to 2x the leads from their website. I teach 5 frameworks that are at the core of techniques I use with my clients.
Website Playbook: A 1-on-1 strategy session designed to give you the playbook to execute creating a website that brings in your ideal customer.
