The tabs at the top of your website pages are an important part of the navigation. However, an easy to use site needs much more. Universal or global navigation appears on every page. It’s useful when you have a number of sites you want to link back to your main site. Your core or primary categories of content are in the same place on every page. Complementary secondary navigation makes important but non-essential information easier to find. Add tools like contact, site search, subscribe, login, print, and share on the page where they’re easy to find. Finally, don’t forget footer navigation at the bottom of the page. This is a good place for content like customer testimonials, awards, and links to other organizations.

The first task is to understand how your customers will use your site. This defines how to organize your information to make it as useful as possible. Once this is done it’s easier to develop your site navigation and page design to guide visitors to the information they need.

More and more buyers now use smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices for their online research. Search engines understand this and prioritize a mobile-first approach. Your desktop design must be excellent but your content must be easy to find and use on small screens using taps and swipes as well as ‘clicks’. Also optimize your pages for fast loading and easy use on mobile devices.

Your desktop and mobile navigation might work differently on different parts of the screen to minimize scrolling. Alternatively, you might use a sticky navigation menu which is always visible even when scrolling. It’s all easy to manage with Cloudfy.