Website navigation has a useful purpose to the individual arriving to a web page. In a time where people want information quickly, it is important for a website to have good usability, so that people will not become frustrated and leave their site. The user will need some way of getting around to finding what they need or learning about the site.
Navigation of a site could be by menus, hypertext links, icons, buttons or search engines. An advantage of having a superior navigational website is that the user will be able to have a good idea of what the website is about without having to click through several pages. This benefits the user because they would feel that they can get what they need quickly by coming to this site. If the navigation is simple to comprehend the user will probably come back. Navigation benefits the company because the user may stay on the site longer or return because of ease of use.
Users may perceive that a website is hard to navigate if it does not have a good flow. Flow means that the user has a seamless interaction with each click of the mouse. For example, if I click on shop, the page should display all options related to shopping and guide me by asking or giving choices. A good flowing website will allow you to go from one place to another without going back to the main page. Attention is also important to navigation. If a website has a lot of content and the user has to read it before knowing where to go, this might be perceived as complex.
Companies should consider how users will navigate through their site when creating the web pages. Navigation is useful because it helps the user easily get through a site. Easy navigation can save the user time and frustration.
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Tarsha Polk has her B.S. in Occupational & Technical Studies from Old Dominion University and Master degrees in Marketing and e-Business, from The University of Phoenix. She has a decade of sales and marketing experience and over three years experience in Internet business technology. Her experience has afforded her the opportunity to work with senior executives from major corporations all over the country and has generated millions of dollars in revenue in her positions.
