Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388

GTA: (647) 699-2838

Search Engine People
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • CRO
  • Display
  • Blog
  • Why Us
  • Contact
  • Join Our Team
  • Get A Quote

Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388

GTA: (647) 699-2838

The 6 Riches Of Navigation Gold: Try This At Home

Kimberly Krause Berg | March 15th, 2011
Tweet49
Share1
Share
Pin
50 Shares

navigation

There are many opportunities for navigation links that go ignored while some of the most recent creative ideas I've seen are with navigation and information architecture solutions.  I'm all for jazzing them up for search engines and user experience. Try these:

1. Add an action word to your navigation labels. "Meet [name of company]" instead of "About us", "View Sales", "Send us Feedback", "How to get Gift Cards", "Quick Look Sitemap", "How to be Affiliates", "Download Catalog", "Order Free Brochure", etc. Most sites have one word links. We no longer have to squish in content under 800 pixels. Be yourself. There's room.

2. Add identifiers for search and memory jogs for people. "About [brand name]", "[Brand]Customer Service", "Request [company name] Catalog", "[Company name] Vacation Search', " etc.

3. Add incentives and motivators for embedded text links. "Book your [brand name] dream vacation now", "We love your curves. Plus sizes all 50% off until February 28", "...our most extensive list of luxury properties ever", "and for you Gemini, twin mountain bikes for you and your exercise buddy" (I can dream, can't I?) The goal here is to try different keywords and experiment with emotional motivators for persuasive design.

4. Use your data! Information architecture sounds scary and it can be if you run a manufacturing, pharmaceutical, real estate and department store web site. Category names are wrestled with taxonomies and those terms may bang heads with keywords. Use your data. Get more data. What do your visitors call things and where do they go to get them on your site, for your industry? Don't copy anybody. Your IA is specific to your stuff. What works for one company may not work for yours.

5. Communicating taxonomies can be done in clever ways and combined with calls to action. There are some updated ideas such as this example from American Eagle that shows the menu breakdown with a promotional item.

clip_image005[3]_thumb

6. Generic terms aren't helpful. Choose your link labels for relevancy, recall, rank, precise results, accurate query processing, and fast search response both on a site and in search engines.  You'll see fashion sites with links to "men" and "women". Just once I'd like to them branch out to "aliens" or some other living thing without much of a gender, like worms.

What have you seen or tried?

Tweet49
Share1
Share
Pin
50 Shares
Posted in Web DesignTagged call to action, IA, menu, navigation, usability

About the Author: Kimberly Krause Berg

Kim Krause Berg’s long background in web design, search engine optimization and usability includes software application functional and user interface testing, accessibility, and persuasive design. Human Factors and Usability and how it blends with Search Engine Optimization have been her passion for over a dozen years. Kim founded Cre8asiteforums in 1998 and was a self-employed usability and search engine marketing consultant for Cre8pc.com since 1996. In the fall of 2012 she sold her forums to Internet Marketing Ninjas and retired from private consulting to join their Executive Management team where she continues her work in usability and persuasive design in her role as Usability and User Interface Analyst.

Recent Posts

  • The Manifest Names Search Engine People Among Toronto’s Most Reviewed SEO Companies
  • Movin’ On Up! Why Migrating to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Should be a Priority
  • A Year in Review: The Digital Marketing Trends That Defined 2021
  • The Basics of Video Marketing
  • Just How Much Do Google Reviews Impact Your SEO Ranking?

Categories

  • Analytics & ROI Analysis
  • Company News
  • Content
  • Conversion Optimization
  • Display Advertising/RTB
  • Email Marketing
  • En Español
  • En Français
  • Inbound Marketing
  • Lead Nurture & Marketing Automation
  • Local Search
  • Marketing
  • Mobile
  • Partnership Marketing
  • PPC
  • PR
  • SEO
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Web Design

Additional Posts

5 Attributes of a Power Blogger

March 14th, 2011 | by Jonathan Souza

How to Generate Content Ideas with Keyword and Market Research

March 14th, 2011 | by Arnie Kuenn

Use Quora To Stamp Your Authority [Reputation Management]

March 14th, 2011 | by Stacey Cavanagh

LET'S TALK

Need more information or want to get in touch?

Get in touch!
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Display
  • Blog
  • Why Us
  • Join Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Local SEO
  • Small Business SEO
  • Enterprise SEO
  • International SEO

LOCATION

1305 Pickering Parkway,
5th Floor Pickering, L1V 3P2

PHONE

Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388
Greater Toronto Area: (647) 699-2838

Social

© Search Engine People Inc. 2023 – Canada’s Top Digital Agency
© SEP 2023 – A Search Engine People Company | Privacy Policy

Search Engine People