Good navigation is one of the most crucial elements in quality web design. Web surfers tend to leave the website immediately if its navigation lacks clarity. Here we discuss few basic principles for designing good and effective website navigation.

Web designers should always keep in mind the basic purpose of the website and the intended audience when designing any website’s navigational elements. Most websites are created to either inform the visitor about a product or service or to actually sell the product or service. So website navigation should be designed accordingly.

The website navigation should be designed in such manner that it should make sense to the average person. While there is always room for something new and creative, but normally well designed websites tend to have similar navigation layouts. Use of standard conventions is also necessary for links such as buttons, menus, underlining the text or changing color on mouse. Resist the temptation to use clever, very different or unclear names for links.