{"id":50063,"date":"2015-12-16T08:57:21","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T07:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/?p=50063"},"modified":"2015-12-02T16:59:47","modified_gmt":"2015-12-02T15:59:47","slug":"importance-of-navigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/importance-of-navigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Importance of Navigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"navigation\"<\/p>\n

Great looking website—Shame I can’t find what I want<\/h2>\n

The company was proud of its new corporate website. And the new pages certainly looked modern and fresh, thanks to the time and money that had been spent on development. But there was a problem, and it wasn\u2019t discovered until the site had gone live. Put bluntly, site visitors couldn\u2019t find what they wanted on the site and the reason for this was simple \u2013 the website was hard to navigate. <\/p>\n

The above example is hypothetical, but I often come across issues like this. I used to think basic navigation issues were confined to creaking sites long past their use-by date, but brand new sites can have the same problem. The reasons for this can vary. Sometimes a company is so eager to revamp an old site, or so keen to include all the latest web ideas, they overlook the not-so-exciting nuts and bolts of good site navigation. And this can be a big mistake, because if a visitor can\u2019t find what they\u2019re looking for (and fast), they\u2019re not going to find all the stuff companies want them to see. <\/p>\n

So how can you find out if your website is easy to navigate? For this purpose of this post, I\u2019m going to focus on stakeholder areas and share some brief tips on how to ensure visitors have a good navigation experience. <\/p>\n

1.\tDon\u2019t forget first impressions<\/strong> \u2013 Are the main stakeholder sections clearly signposted on your home page? I know this may sound obvious, but put on the shoes of a site visitor and take a look at your home page and compare it with something like Allergan\u2019s homepage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2.\tKeep everything where it should be<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t split stakeholder content. If a visitor is looking for core \u201cAbout Us\u201d content, they\u2019re going to expect to find it in one place (and not spread over separate stakeholder areas, like a website I reviewed recently).<\/p>\n

3.\tDon\u2019t confuse the site visitor<\/strong> \u2013 It may sound like an original idea to call your key stakeholder sections something other than \u201cAbout\u201d or \u201cMedia\u201d, but whatever you call them, it must be a recognisable pointer for the site visitor. Remember \u2013 a confused site visitor is going to be a past visitor very shortly. <\/p>\n

4.\tDon\u2019t hide your strengths<\/strong> \u2013 If your company has a great innovation story to tell, don\u2019t hide it with a brief reference in your \u201cAbout\u201d pages. Invest in a specific section that stands on its own in the home page top navigation menu (like Eni<\/a>). The same applies for businesses with an impressive corporate governance record. <\/p>\n

5.\tMake a list<\/strong> \u2013 Pick a specific stakeholder section (e.g. \u201cAbout\u201d) and then write down what you\u2019d expect to find there (don\u2019t cheat and look at your own site first). Best practice recommends a broad range of useful and engaging content. Then go up back to your own website and compare what\u2019s on your list to what\u2019s there. If visitors can\u2019t find everything they expect to see in a stakeholder area, they\u2019re likely to look elsewhere on your site. And if they can\u2019t find it elsewhere, that might be the last you see of them!<\/p>\n

6.\tAvoid navigation jolts<\/strong> \u2013 Many companies use links to company reports (either in HTML or PDF) to provide additional stakeholder content, in sections like CSR or corporate governance. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this approach, provided the report content at the end of the link is of good quality. If it isn\u2019t, this can create a jolt in the viewing experience of the visitor. And if the report content doesn\u2019t look very good on the screen, it can look unprofessional. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve only scratched the surface here regarding best practice for stakeholder navigation. And I\u2019ve not even touched on all the other aspects of making a website easy to get around. The good news is that we\u2019re happy to share what we know about all these things at Corporate Eye. So if you\u2019re not sure if your website passes the navigation test, drop us a line and we\u2019ll let you know! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great looking website—Shame I can’t find what I want The company was proud of its new corporate website. And the new pages certainly looked modern and fresh, thanks to the time and money that had been spent on development. But there was a problem, and it wasn\u2019t discovered until the site had gone live. Put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":50066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-50063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-stakeholders","8":"category-best-practices","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nImportance of Navigation - Corporate Eye<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I used to think basic navigation issues were confined to creaking sites long past their use-by date, but brand new sites can have the same problem\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/importance-of-navigation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Importance of Navigation - 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