Why Website Navigation Is Critical
I really do love Site Build It!. So much of what I understand about website building and how to succeed online I learned from Site Build It!. But there's one thing I think they could do much better... website navigation.
Hopefully they will someday. But if you upload your own HTML there is something you can do about it now. More about that in a bit.
Now I think the concept of Tier 2 and Tier 3 pages makes a lot of sense... especially for a beginner. But I think really good website navigation requires something better.
A Better Way To Help Your Visitors Find Your Content
With the SBI! idea of having all your Tier 2 pages on your left navigation and your Tier 3 pages as text links within your Tier 2 pages, there are considerable limitations.
Suppose your visitor came looking for something on your Tier 3 page. For them to find it they have to find the right Tier 2 page and then read all the content on that page until they find your text link. You run a real risk of losing them before they ever find what they're looking for.
They say you've only got about 5 seconds to get your visitors attention. After all your first Most Wanted Response is to get them to stick around. Your website navigation is critical for not only getting them to stay but also to help them find that critical information that will keep them there and maybe even come back.
Think About It...
The more time your visitor stays on your site and the more pages they read the better chance you have of turning them into a regular visitor AND maybe a customer. Just think what it would do for your AdSense income alone.
What if you had a way to help them find all your pages easily and even get to ANY page within 2 clicks (and no reading)?
Here's what I propose and offer in my template...
A horizontal website navigation for your Tier 2 pages. Once you click on a Tier 2 Page, the left navigation changes to reveal all the Tier 3 pages within that Page/Category.
If you can't imagine it here's my golf website that uses the concept. Click to see it in action.
Now the key here is to have a reasonable idea what your whole site will look like upfront. Using the SBI! Excel Site Blueprint will help with this a lot.
Also it helps to think of your Tier 2 pages as general categories for the content that will be on your site. In my case above, I've made the top site navigation very general but also very logical so people can find what they are looking for. In many ways the website navigation works as a Table of Contents.
So again the benefits of this type of website navigation are...
- Visitors can find all pages easily
- Most pages can be found within 2 clicks
- Your visitors should find what they are looking for, stay on your site longer, and read more pages.
- The more pages they read the more credibility it will create for you and the better chance you have of converting them into a regular visitor and customer.
- Your AdSense income (in fact all your monetization) will be better.
I know you'd like to see some proof of what I say. I would too. I just redesigned my golf site with my template in the beginning of May so it's too soon to tell. But I'll be watching my Google Analytics stats to see if my Bounce Rate goes down, my Time On Site goes up, and if my Pages Per Visit go up. I'll be reporting back to let you know.
If you'd like to learn more about my template take a look at this page
