No matter how compelling your website’s content is, if users can’t find it, it won’t do you much good. Website navigation is an essential component of functional web design, ensuring that everyone who visits your site can locate the information they need quickly and easily. Menus are one of the most effective tools available for seamless website navigation.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the different types of website menus, their functions, and when to use them.
Horizontal Navigation Bar
The horizontal navigation bar is the most common type of menu. Typically located in the header, the navigation bar lists major pages horizontally. Most websites have links to categories of products and services, the “About Us” page, and the “Contact” page, but you can customize the bar to your specific needs and goals. The header, along with the bar, should be visible on all pages to facilitate easy navigation.
For example, if you own a home improvement business, your horizontal navigation bar might include your main services — home remodeling, interior design, painting, carpentry, etc. — encouraging visitors to explore what you have to offer.
Dropdown Navigation
If you have a lot of content on your site, you can avoid a cluttered header by creating dropdown navigation menus on your horizontal navigation bar. For instance, when someone hovers over the “Home Remodeling” item on the navigation bar, a dropdown list appears with links to services related to home remodeling: demolition, floor plans, pricing, etc.
Whenever you add a dropdown, it’s a good idea to include some sort of icon to indicate that there’s hidden content and encourage users to interact with it. Take a look at the top of our site — the little downward-pointing arrows next to “SEO Company”, “Services”, “Case Studies | Portfolios”, “Resources”, and “Contact” tell you that if you hover over the links, more content will appear.
Hamburger Menu
Hamburger menus are ideal for smaller screens such as mobile phones. They hide menu items behind three horizontal lines, preventing the site from being too cluttered. Typically, horizontal navigation bars and hamburger menus are one and the same — they have the same content, but appear different based on the type of device.
To activate the hamburger menu, visitors simply click on the icon, and the list of navigation bar links appears as a vertical list.
Vertical Sidebar
Vertical sidebars are like a fusion of horizontal navigation bars and hamburger menus. They serve the same purpose as navigation bars, but instead of being located in the header, they’re on the side of the screen (usually the left) and list links vertically rather than horizontally. Think of it like a hamburger menu for desktop sites that doesn’t require visitors to click the icon to view.
While vertical sidebars are much less popular than their horizontal counterparts, they are ideal in certain cases. If you have a lot of items you want to list on your navigation menu or the item names are longer, vertical sidebars give you much more flexibility and don’t come with the same space restrictions as horizontal bars.
Footer Menu
Just as the header is at the top of the page, the footer is at the bottom. You can choose to use a footer menu if you don’t want your header to become too cluttered. It typically contains a horizontal navigation bar and dropdowns, offering more options than the header. It can also include links to things like your company’s privacy policy, social media profiles, languages offered, and more.
Other Components of Website Navigation
Some other essential components of website navigation include:
- Breadcrumbs: A visualization of where a visitor is within the website’s structure. For example, going back to the hypothetical home improvement website, you might include a little bar near the top of the page that says, “Home → Interior Design → Color Palettes” to represent the path they took through the site and make it easier to retrace their steps.
- Hyperlinks: Including hyperlinks in your content makes it more convenient for users to find information related to what they’re currently viewing. For example, if the “Color Palettes” page mentions something about color theory, you can link that section of text to a blog post about the topic.
- Buttons: Buttons are great for calls to action: call now, get a quote, learn more, sign up, etc. When clicked, they take the user to a related page where they can complete the desired action.
Professional Web Design by PDM
At Performance Driven Marketing, our team of web designers and developers prides themselves on creating attractive, functional websites that enhance the user experience. If your website could use an upgrade, contact us today to learn more about how we can help take your business to the next level.
