The Connection Between Website Navigation and Conversion Rates

Just as a boat captain might use a map to navigate an ocean journey, an internet user clicks on the layout of a website to navigate its pages. This is the basic idea behind website navigation. 

To an average user, website navigation may be completely invisible on a website that has mastered it. But as soon as they cannot find the pages or information they seek, average website visitors will likely notice defects in website navigation immediately.

Briefly defined, navigation involves the system of menus, tabs and buttons that link to the various pages of your website and relevant external pages. Core navigation menus often appear in page headers or sidebars, but any clickable hypertext or hypermedia on your website can make it either easier or more difficult for a visitor to move around a website.  

The Role of Navigation in User Experience (UX)

Companies that fail to prioritize website navigation miss out on a powerful opportunity to guide user behavior and ultimately bring about conversions (purchase decisions or other desired actions). To increase conversion rates, paying close attention to the entire user journey across the website is important. After all, you certainly don’t want to lose willing customers as they fumble to click through from your home page to a final purchase.

From dead-end links to disappearing pop-up windows, there is virtually no end to the potential pitfalls of a website with poor navigation principles. Put simply, people like to get where they want to go without delay. Ease of navigation will always improve any website’s overall user experience (UX).

Factors Impacting Conversion Rates

Seamless navigation drives positive UX and boosts conversion rates for organizations of all kinds. But how, exactly, do you engender seamless navigation?

The website navigation and general digital marketing experts at Lucid recommend undergoing a comprehensive website audit to determine what areas and aspects of your website negatively impact overall navigation. Lucid offers industry-leading website audits free of charge to examine areas that include…

• Layout intuitiveness – The composition of pages to help users easily find what they’re looking for.
• Hierarchy of information – The presentation of headings, subheadings, and other information logically.
• Mobile-friendly navigation – Taking measures to ensure seamless navigation on mobile devices.
• Quick load times – The impact of website speed on navigation and conversion rates.

Common Navigation Pitfalls and Their Impact

Beyond ignoring the general best practices above, companies can destroy their website navigation by making any of the following mistakes:

• Positioning a navigation menu bar where readers can easily miss it
• Placing too many items on a menu bar
• Including too many steps in the visitor journey before the desired conversion
• Including large blocks of writing in your navigation content
• Failing to deliver the ordered and smooth flow of information from the most essential general headlines to the least important specific details

Falling into these common pitfalls can deter many users and negatively affect conversion rates. Depending on your organization and its purposes, you can also optimize website navigation and boost conversion rates by incorporating a website search bar into your navigation menu and providing simple digital forms that are easy to fill out.

Lucid’s Approach to Navigation

When developing a website from scratch, Lucid takes all the relevant measures above and countless others to ensure the final product features an intuitive and user-friendly navigation structure. We also have experience optimizing navigation for existing websites after identifying problem areas during our free website audit. Whether it’s addressing page load times or fixing various issues, Lucid ensures your website stays fast and efficient.

Improve Your Conversion Rates

Ease of navigation contributes to high conversion rates that will spell success for your organization. To learn more about the importance of website navigation as part of a comprehensive and targeted digital marketing campaign, contact a friendly team member at Lucid today.