Menu navigation exists to help us find content and it should be simple and intuitive.
When looking at a website, our expectation is to navigate with ease and have a great experience. Part of my role as a senior web designer is to ensure that the user knows where they are, where they have been and where they are going! Designing a solid navigation system is without question one of the most important aspects of designing a website. Hopefully the below will shed some light on the fundamentals of navigation.
Main Top Navigation
For the main top-level navigation it is best practice to use 1 or 2 short words at most for each main page.
Use no more than 7 menu categories for the top level navigation.
It is always a good idea to begin with “About” sharing what your company is about.
Let’s end your top navigation with “Contact Us”. We really want people to be able to find you or ask you questions.
Sub-Navigation
This a pages under the top navigation to let people know more about you.
Best to create a “Site Map” of the pages you want to share. If you need help, FirstLink would like to help you out!
Does every page need to go under the sub-navigation? No, some can just be links from one page to another. It’s always good to add links. Get the most important pages under your navigation, this is key to a good website.
Optional Layouts
Hamburger Menu or Normal Navigation
Color of font
Background Color
Menu Alignment
Menu Font Size
Menu Hover Color
Social Media follows with the “Hamburger Menu” also in a mobile responsive view.
Hamburger Menu Layout
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