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One of the most often overlooked and basic problems with
e-commerce websites is ineffective navigation. Websites are NOT
like physical stores...a visitor can't glance around to get a
feeling of where they are and where they want to go. They are
completely dependent upon the navigation system of your
e-commerce website. If the navigation system is not intuitive
the user will seldom spend any time trying to figure it out.
Instead, they hit the back button a couple of times and look
for a new site.
Here are a few things you want to consider before you make a
decision on how your catalog navigation will work.
- Navigation Location...The product navigation should
be in the same place on every page of the site. The upper
left portion of the page is generally considered to be the
best location. This is where most visitors expect to see it.
- Think like a customer...Your site visitors likely
do not know everything you know about your products. This
makes it essential that you think like a customer when
deciding how to organize your products and your product
navigation. Minimize the potential for confusion.
- Categories or Brands (or both)...If you sell only
name brand products you may want to consider using a product
navigation based on brands. At the very minimum you may want
to include it as a secondary navigation option.
- Make buying easy...There are at least two pieces of
information that should be prominent on every page of your
site.
The first is your telephone number. Even today, many people
find the products they want on your site but use the
telephone to actually place the order.
The second is an obvious link to the shopping cart.
If the user cannot find the shopping cart they can't
complete the purchase.
- Consistency...All navigation in your site should be
consistent from page to page. Website visitors like knowing
how to find what they want quickly without having to go back
to find the link they want.
Be sure to spend time on your navigation design. Poor
navigation can render an otherwise wonderful site useless to
the site visitor.
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