Main Menu gives a birds-eye view of the site

One of the most crucial parts of any website is its main menu since it provides the first impression of any site to the viewer. As the adage goes, the first impression is a lasting impression. It offers the viewer a practical and visual aspect of the site. Web designers use different tact and processes which include psychology, practice, creativity, and intuition when making this menu.

The main menu also gives the user at first glance information about what the site is about and if he got the right site while surfing the web. Hence if the main menu does not give the exact information, there could be high bounce rates, low ranking and few sales.

There are many methods and tips for building a perfect main menu on the web which tell you about the intricate details about how you can put some items in a particular position and not in others. However to have a high strike rate and to prevent your site from falling into a rut, here are ten useful tips to be kept in mind while creating menus-

Link to your Blog

The link to your blog is irrelevant once the visitor has found your site, therefore, it has no place in the main menu. It will be a better idea to put the blog button at the bottom of the page.

Your main menu is too long

A menu must not be too extensive to make it cumbersome for the visitor to keep track of every heading. It has been proved that a regular human brain can retain only six to seven titles at one glance.

The Contact button

Make the contact button as prominent as possible since the primary goal is to make the visitor contact you for doing business. Make the contact button as simple as possible and desist from using bombast and Shakespearean English which goes over the head of the common man.

Services

Instead of having a long list of services, it will be better to use subheaders which should not be more than 5 or 6 and put the services in these subheadings.

The main menu is not responsive

A nonresponsive main menu is also one of the causes of a very high bounce rate and lack of business.

Home – the button returning to the main page

The Home button is an obsolete practice, and it has been replaced by the company logo. However many large sites still prefer it. It will be a better idea to have each for a period and check which is best suited for your website.  

In your main menu, there are pages that are never visited

The “Frequently Asked Questions” button has negligible traffic but is one of the main buttons in the main menu. It will be a better idea to place it at the bottom of the main menu.

The text on the buttons is too long

Use one or two words as button texts and avoid using long sentences.

You use a fly-out menu

Avoid the fly-out menus as they are often very misleading

The main menu is not in its standard position

Do not place Main Menu in unusual positions