If somebody asks you to name the most crucial aspect of a web page from the website design point of view, what your answer would be? Not sure? Well, it’s the navigation bar. No matter what users want to do or see, a navigation bar acts as a helping hand to take them to their destination. Absence of the bar will confuse or in other words, mislead them, which might even turn into an annoying experience.
A navigation bar can be designed in any format. Talking about the traditional as well as non-traditional methods, they comprise of:
If there’s one location that's common and is good to be considered as the first choice, it is the header. It is a human nature to look in the upper section of the screen and expect a navigation bar. Keeping it here ensures it is kept at a particular place that will remain as it as even when the user scrolls at the bottom.
This may sound unusual but not something completely unheard. However, navigation bar in these places causes discomfort for the users. What needs to be understood here is the fact that it’s an intuitive design that’s required most of the times and sidebar navigation may or may not appear intuitive.
Now this can be anything from floating navigation buttons to a navigation bar in an unusual place. You got to be cautious about drifting away from tried-and-true kind of navigation bar. No matter how much appreciation your website gets, it must look sensible and must convert.
Talking precisely about the mobile sites, hamburger menu style is highly popular. It refers to three parallel lines that are clubbed together. Users can get navigation possibilities by simply pressing on the hamburger.
Apart from these bars, easy navigation can be facilitated by adding elements like drop-down tabs and tabs that undergo color change when hovered over. Exploring multiple websites to find out the ones that will work in your favor and help you reach the target audience is always the way to go.
As explained above, navigation bars guide visitors about areas they can go to, they are highly important when it comes to increases the conversions and various other appropriate analytics. Having said that, it is crucial to determine the flow of navigation tabs and that too wisely. Apart from this, other thing that matters is considering the language that is used on the navigation bar menu.
If we talk about the inner pages of the website, being specific is required. For instance, in matters of e-commerce websites, navigation tabs have to be systematic to allow the users go through a pattern of transitions with minimum clicks.
All in all, navigation bar is supposed to answer the questions and not create them.
As there are various types of navigation bars, it is vital to choose the one that suits the website and reaches the target population.
Want to know more? Get in touch with us and let our experts help you figure out the best navigation bar for you.
