It takes a lot of efforts to get your users on your website and takes more efforts to make them stay on that page. The common saying “First impression is the last impression” still holds good in any scenario. The moment your user gets on the landing page he starts forming impressions about your website. Your main menu speaks a lot about your website. It’s kind of a marketing tool for your website. But a lot of websites make naive mistakes which can lead to a high bounce rate and less time spent on the webpage. In short, it can cause some serious damage to your business. Here are 10 common main menu mistakes that should be avoided in order to create a good impression on users.

Mistake #1: Overcrowding The Main Menu

According to a study, the human brain can distinguish up to 7 different elements at a single point in time. Once the number goes beyond 7, the distinguishing power decreases which can confuse the visitor and eventually lead him to bounce off the page. Display only the important options in the main menu and place the other options at other convenient places.

Mistake #2: The Main Menu Drags Too Much Attention

Once the user lands on your page, his attention should go towards the most important aspects of your website. The content is the king here and should get all the user attention. A highly attractive main menu will lead the eyeballs towards the top of your web page and away from the real content. So it is highly advised to keep the main menu as simple as possible.

Mistake #3: An Unresponsive Main Menu

A major chunk of the Internet is accessed through mobile devices and tablets these days. Not having a responsive design in today’s scenario is just like living in a stone age. It is really frustrating to access an unresponsive main menu on a mobile device. You need to constantly zoom in and zoom out to access the menu options while avoiding a click on other options which you don’t wish to access. Responsive has set itself as an industry standard and must be maintained at all levels.

Mistake #4: Options In Main Menu Are Wrongly Placed

According to another Psychological study, items placed at the first and last of a list are most effective. They get the highest rate of attention and retention. It’s called the serial position effect. Hence, this should be kept in mind while designing your main menu items as well. Keep the most important items at the first and the last position.

Mistake #5: Keeping Buttons Rather Than Links In The Main Menu

This is another common mistake done by so many websites. Links are far more effective than buttons and thus should always be valued higher. Buttons are not at all search friendly and are completely invisible to search engines. They require a lot of effort and time to be updated and are particularly bad for mobiles due to their slow speed. They are even less accessible to the visually impaired.

Mistake #6: You Are Using ‘Get In Touch’ Instead Of ‘Contact Us’

In an attempt to get fancy, we sometimes forget that there are many things which are most effective when used in their good old classic version. Get in touch, Reach out to us, Let’s talk, Join hands with us etc. are all fancy modifications of ‘Contact Us’. However, they end up confusing the user. So stick to ‘Contact Us’.

Mistake #7: Your Main Menu Has Your Blog Link

We often fail to understand the basic intention and role of a blog. Your blog is like a searchlight which helps the users to find your website. Hence there is no need to place it in the main menu. Unless the blog is a supercritical part of your services or the website itself is a blog, the link to your blog must rest somewhere in the footer section.

Mistake #8: Using Generic Menu Labels

Who We Are, What We Do, Where We Work, Who We Hire have been the most common main menu labels for ages. But, things have changed a lot over the years and using these labels in your main menu will not do any good for your business. Instead, make your navigation and website more communicative about your services and products. This will help reduce the bounce rate and the users will feel more connected.

Mistake #9: You Have A Home Button In Your Main Menu

This is something very insensible. Your main menu must not have a Home button. The logo of your company must act as a ‘Back to Home’ button. A home button unnecessarily eats extra space in the main menu and diverts attention from the more important content. Although this has been followed by a majority of companies, we still encounter a few websites which still features a Home button in the main menu.

Mistake #10: Not Properly Highlighting The Current Page

At all times you must remind the visitors of where they are by highlighting or shadowing the pages that the visitor is currently on. This can surely be done by using breadcrumbs, but it’s also important to make sure your main menu uses active states.

Creating an impressive and technically sound main menu helps you to create an excellent first impression on your users. In addition to that, it helps in decreasing the bounce rate and the users will definitely spend more time on your website. Talk to our experts for more details.

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