Insights
SLI Systems – Navigation Crucial to Reducing Site Abandonment
- 25th August
- Samantha Youl 52
Often overlooked, website navigation can be crucial to conversion – SLI Systems releases a Big Book of Navigation Tips with practical insights for retailers.
Many retailers concentrate on the look and feel of a website and overlook basic functionality, such as navigation, which can be the crucial difference between a visitor finding what they are looking for and taking action, or giving up in frustration and bouncing off the site.
Following on from its hugely successful Big Book of Site Search Tips, SLI Systems have released its Big Book of Navigation Tips. The primary focus of the e-book is to help e-retailers and publishers reduce site abandonment by providing visitors with the most direct route to the desired content through good website usability, while also avoiding navigational ‘dead ends’ or design clutter that impedes their progress.
“Complex and poorly designed navigation leads to site abandonment – and worse, can tarnish a brand’s reputation,” said Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems. “As with well-designed site search, carefully thought-out site navigation shortens the time it takes for visitors to get from a site’s home page to the content or items they desire, and will improve click-throughs and conversions. The Big Book of Navigation Tips explains how to bring good navigation design to any site – whether on the web or in the mobile world.”
The section on mobile navigation will be particularly useful, given the explosive use of mobile devices for web browsing, shopping and socially sharing.
“Mobile site navigation presents specific challenges relating to screen size and network speeds,” Ryan said. “It’s especially critical that mobile users be able to navigate quickly and easily. Our collection of tips includes several ideas for keeping mobile navigation simple and easy to follow.”
As the Australian online retail industry booms, SLI’s Big Book of Navigation Tips provides digital professionals with practical insights around site navigation in terms of design, search engine optimisation, merchandising and mobile navigation. Some of which include:
- Use industry standards layout - It’s great to get creative, but make sure that your visitors still understand your interface and quickly grasp how to navigate around your retail site.
- Use the language of your visitors in your navigation links - By researching and understanding the ‘trigger’ words that your customers are using, you will be able to better accommodate and design your site to suit the needs and preferences of your customers.
- Use Super Menus - Usability tests have proven that Super Menus work well for both e-commerce companies and visitors, by allowing customers to access subcategories and even non-product content quickly and easily.
- Consider the impact on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) when changing navigation - Make sure you use a 301 redirect on these old navigation pages, so that the SEO value of those pages will be linked to the new page, therefore minimising the negative impact on your SEO.
- Make links large enough to use on a mobile - Make sure your links are big enough to click on a mobile screen – if not visitors will find it frustrating to have to try several times to reach the page they want.
The Big Book of Navigation Tips is free to download from the SLI Systems website.
