Lazy websites make your audience work harder to do business with you. The more calories your visitors burn, the fewer pages they will see. The problem becomes worse as your content platform expands. It’s an easy problem to fix. Here’s the perfect solution if you want more page views on your website.
Five Signs Your Site Navigation Needs a Makeover
- Your Top-Level Pages Have Multiple Subpages. Most websites use a topic-focused navigation scheme (e.g., Services, Products, About.) On the next level, the topics continue to expand to be more specific. Over time, your website will have more content than your basic menu structure can expose. That’s when you know it’s broken.
- Does Your Submenu Has More Than Two Levels of Navigation? The first problem creates the second issue. Once your topical content begins to expand, your submenu expands too. Your website navigation starts to look more like a Microsoft Word menu. Your audience wants simple website navigation.
- Is The Main Menu More Than Five Top Level Pages? A menu stretching across the page makes sense if your business sells everything like Amazon. However, that only works well for desktop and laptop visitors. When people have too many choices, they usually don’t make one. Less is more for your top-level navigation.
- Does Your Main CTA Look Like Another Menu Option? Your call-to-action (CTA) must be super prominent. The placement should be bold for your Menu Header and your landing pages. An unwieldy navigation menu makes it hard to place a compelling CTA.
- Is Your Menu is Inward-focused Versus Audience-focused? The last factor should be more evident to business owners. Topical navigation structures show how you see your business. An audience-first menu focuses on their problems and goals. If you want more page views, arrange your menus to foster their customer journey.
Your Website Makeover Is Inevitable
Rethinking your site navigation is inevitable. As your content platform grows, you need to make it easier to discover your content without searching. The number of sales funnel pages will increase as you develop better product offers. Many pages must be on your website for legal purposes.
Getting your pages to rank better on Google also requires producing more content. Your Cornerstone Clusters help build your online authority. Remember that an SEO-friendly website is a human-centric resource.
Evolving Your Navigation with Content Platform
MADEGRANDBYCAM had this website navigation challenge. The website menu was sprawling across and down the screen. It was a mess.
The second challenge was building on-page menus. On-page menus provide navigation between pages on that level and topic. However, the on-page menu isn’t visible from the main navigation.
In 2019, MADEGRANDBYCAM launched hubs for featured content. These mini-websites reveal a third issue with the site navigation. Websites don’t need static global navigation. Content hubs need context-based navigation. Landing pages, sales funnels, and product pages need navigation optimized for the content.
Alternatives for Site Navigation Makeover
- Leave it as-is and use breadcrumbs. Navigation breadcrumbs are helpful on many websites. However, breadcrumbs can expose pages you don’t want your audience to see.
- Build separate websites. Separate websites rarely make sense for a single brand. The creation of multiple websites dilutes your brand’s SEO authority. One website per brand is best.
- Use the search box as the site navigation. Many people use search to navigate the web. The main navigation of your website should include a search option. Don’t make the search box the main navigation.
- Make the menu font smaller. Microsoft and Apple use smaller fonts on the main navigation to get more content into the top-level menu. You may have to squint to see it. Your audience doesn’t want to buy new reading glasses just for your website.
Setting Goals for Your Site Navigation Makeover
Every business decision should drive your measures that matter. Change for the sake of change doesn’t solve any problems. For MADEGRANDBYCAM, the core measure that matters is more leads into marketing and sales funnels. Page views drive the lead capture measure.
What are your top measures for your business? Write down what matters and how you will measure the results. A measurement plan will help you know what’s working and where your opportunities are.
MADEGRANDBYCAM uses UTM parameters in links to pages that drive the core measures. UTM parameters provide insight into where on-the-page visitors click (e.g., the header navigation, CTA, page content, or footer.)
Are you maximizing your Footers?
Your website footer can be more than a copyright notice. Footers can be more than an echo of your main navigation.
Take a look at the brand websites that you love.
- How are they using their page footers to get more navigation elements in view?
- Does the footer change for content hubs and landing pages?
- Have you noticed page-specific versus global footers?
Use your footers to provide more information for your audience without cluttering your main navigation. Move low-performing menu structures from your main navigation to your footer.
We’re looking at your “About Us” page!
MADEGRANDBYCAM uses a modular three-tier footer stack for content pages. The base contains global footer information about the company, legal, search, and social channel links. The middle tier features solutions and resources. The top of the footer stack is contextual. It changes based on the page and includes a relevant lead magnet.
Footer stacks are removed based on the goals of the page. For example, “squeeze” landing pages have simple one-line footers. A modular approach provides a high-utility footer with dynamic content.
Audience-Focused Headers
Everyone uses topical menu headers. Topics make sense. Topical headers are a great way to organize your first website.
Topical headers make less sense as your content platform evolves into an audience-first brand. What problem is your audience trying to solve? Does your menu header lead them to that solution?
Audience-Focused Headers reflect your audience’s needs first. Think of your headers as the bait to hook your buyer’s attention. They should immediately know if your brand will solve their problem or provide information.
The audience-first approach should repeat in your menus, ads, pages, blogs, podcasts, and each customer touchpoint. Make being helpful your lead-in. This audience-centric approach improves every aspect of your content platform.
MADEGRANDBYCAM menu headers are audience-first. The menu heading focuses on the goals of the audience versus the topic. This menu navigation allows the website to cluster more content under that helpful heading. Each menu heading is a funnel for the buyer’s journey.
What Is A Mega Menu?
Standard websites use three styles of menus: horizontal, vertical, and hamburger menu. Each relies on a single-column menu structure. Click on the heading, and another column of menu options appears. If you click on a sub-level heading, another menu option column appears. This basic menu system works fine for small websites.
The desktop web experience is getting an upgrade with mega menus. Mega menus provide a multi-column pane of content in a single view. Mega menus can include videos, product images, sign-up forms, and dynamic content. Mega menus are sexier than the basic menu structure.
Mega Menus and SEO
Do mega menus make an impact on your SEO? Yes. A mega menu is a web page. The same rules for page optimization apply to mega menus:
- Only use images in your mega menu that won’t impact your page speed.
- Only use relevant keyword phrases in your mega menu.
- Create a responsive option for mobile and tablet devices. Mega menus aren’t visible on mobile.
Page views drive relevance ranking. Make it easy for your audience to find your content. Increasing your page views signals to Google that your site has relevant content. A mega menu can help you get more from your paid, earned, shared, and organic traffic.
Sticky Menu on Scroll
Marketers are increasing the length of pages and blogs for better SEO results. That’s smart. However, your fancy mega menu will disappear from view as your audience scrolls the screen.
Sticky Menus stay put at the top of the screen while scrolling. Your Sticky Menu will keep your site navigation handy at all times. Your visitors don’t needlessly have to scroll back to the top of the page.
MADEGRANDBYCAM uses contextual Sticky Mega Menus. Sticky Mega Menus ensures a consistent experience no matter where you are on the page.
Mega Menus on Mobile Devices
Your sexy mega menu is invisible on most tablets and mobile devices. The desktop mega menu is useless in the vertical device orientation. Optimize your navigation experience for your audience’s devices.
Dynamic Content in your Mega Menu
Place your dynamic content inside your mega menu to bring it to life. Your latest blog article will automatically surface in your mega menu. Podcast features automatically show on the page with dynamic content. Featured products or for-sale items magically appear in your mega menu. Do more effective on-site promotion with your feed embedded in your mega menu.
Use your mega menu for personalized content. You can trigger coupons or offers in the mega menu based on your CRM data or visitor behaviors. Use your mega menu to motivate your audience’s behavior instead of waiting for action.
Examples of Great Mega Menus
Mailchimp
Apple
Squarespace
Logitech
GoPro
Start Increasing Your Page Views with Mega Menus
Is your website ready for mega menus? That depends on your website’s maturity. In the “Fire Your Lazy Website” webinar, you can learn more about website maturity. Mega Menu benefits increase on intentional content platforms with marketing funnels.
You will see an immediate increase in Page Views when you create audience-focused mega menus for your website. Here are some tips to remember:
- Use your mega menu design to expose your helpful content to your audience.
- Align your marketing and sales funnels with your content to foster your buyer’s journey.
- Place your CTA in your mega menu.
- Consolidate your menu headings for a more significant impact.
- Use UTM parameters on your menu links to measure the effectiveness of your mega menu.
- Keep your design consistent and responsive across devices.
- Embed dynamic content to keep your mega menu fresh and personal.
If you’re using mega menus on your website, comment below so we can see your work.
If you want to increase your page views for your website, schedule a consultation with MADEGRANDBYCAM.
