User-friendly navigation
In a regular store, visitors are guided by signs. Users expect similar cues from a website. Good navigation provides a complete understanding of the content and structure of an online resource.
Website sections should have clearly understandable names so that users don’t waste time searching for the information they need. Try to write in a language that is clear to the user, avoiding professional terms.
When distributing products into sections and categories, try to maintain a clear hierarchy.
From any page, a user might want to return to the homepage. We recommend making the site logo clickable or adding a “Home” button (icon in the form of a house).
When navigating through site sections, users benefit from knowing where they came from, where they are, and where they can go next. To help users understand where they came from and where they are, create a breadcrumb trail. It shows the user’s path from the site homepage through sections and subsections to the current page. It’s also worth graphically highlighting in the site menu the section and subsection the user is currently in.
Links should be noticeable and visually distinct from the rest of the text. They are usually highlighted in blue and underlined. The most important links should be specially highlighted. For example, a link that signifies an active action by the user can be styled as a button.
Note
To see which areas of the page users click on and how frequently, you can use a Click map.
To understand if user behavior aligns with your expectations of site interaction and to identify navigation errors, use the Session Replay report in Yandex Metrica.