ONE Overlooked Reason Why Prospects Abandon Your Website (3 simple tweaks you can make to help avoid this same mistake)
One of the biggest reasons why visitors abandon your website is because of your navigation menu.
Over the last few days, I’ve been helping a client with his website re-design. And as marketers, we always like to talk about the big promise, the benefits you offer, success stories and calls to action. But one area that’s often overlooked is the first impression you create for prospects when they see your navigation menu.
And my client was no exception — he wanted everything under the sun stuffed into his menu!
Your navigation menu is there to help solve your prospect’s problems…
We like to think that everything we create has value. But does it all have to be showcased in your menus? The answer is no.
Here’s 3 simple tweaks you can make to your menus to help deliver a better customer experience:
#1 — Make it clear and obvious what you offer
There’s a ton of evidence that says you have 3–7 seconds to grab your prospect’s attention when they land on your website or they will leave. And the words you use in your navigation menu are key to retaining their attention. Make it clear what you have to offer and where you want them to go next. They need to know quickly they’re in the right place to solve their problem.
#2 — Have no more than 7 items in your top-menu
Your top menu will typically contain options that clearly signpost your services or products. Usually, there is space for resources, company and contact pages too. Whatever you do, keep it simple. 5 to 7 options is the sweet spot. Visitors get lost easily, leading to overwhelm and abandoned sites. Give them a clear journey to go on.
#3 — Use mega menus and ‘junk drawers’ to keep it organised
I get it, you might have multiple products and resources to showcase, and that’s great. If that’s the case, take advantage of ‘mega-menus’ which is a great way to visualise a lot of options via an expandable menu. You can see a great example over at asana.com. Just click on their features or resources options to see a mega menu in action.
And if you still can’t let go of your favourite article but it just doesn’t fit in your top menu, then create a footer menu — which I like to call the ‘junk-drawer’. Again, check out asana.com for a great junk-drawer menu.
Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog
