I have been asked to redevelop a website as it is not being as effective at creating leads or conversions to the level that they would like. In this post I discuss 5 points of research on how to create great website menu bars.
1. Less me and more you
In life no one likes someone who talks about themselves, everyone is more interested in their own life. In their achievements & in their problems and drawing your visitors attention should start by thinking what your customers want from your site? The old rule when websites where first made was to always put Home at the start so its easy to locate & then the About Link..this has changed. I would now recommend putting the About section near the end of the menu as people are less interested in you and your background and more interested in what you can do for them!
2. NO Services Tab
What is the point in a services tab? Saying you have services is all very good but it isn’t specific enough, how is anyone going to know what you can provide them without visit that specific page? It isn’t just to be more specific but you must also reenforce your marketing message to the visitor. BE creative with your choice of words not just your images.
3. Contact
The contact feature may be considered to be one of the most important feature of any website so making sure it is clear and easily accessible at all times. Why not even have a button that is always on screen to ask for an instant quote for your product? One step further, if you have the team available have a live chat feature to give your potential leads more options for making an enquiry.
Look at my website for a simple example. My contact page is always available ( top right corner) to you no matter where you are on the site.
4. Lets be Social
Being social is very important in the modern world. Being an active participant on social media sites shows you are a company that stays in touch with the latest technology, value your customers current opinions and keep abreast of what is happening amongst your industry. I usually keep the social media icons in the footer of a website but ocassionlly in a sidebar. Some websites include it in their menu for easy access. Any of these three options are fine.
5. Blog all about it
So you have a home page, about page, “something” other than services tab & a contact tab but do you blog? What is a blog? Well you are reading a blog right now! Why blog? Well for three main reasons : –
- SEO – improves your search engine ranking
- Expertise – shows you know what you are talking about
- Socialise – it gives you something to tweet about regularly and create conversation
- Build a fan base – those who are interested in what you are will begin to communicate with you
- Create leads and opportunity – blogging sometimes leads to being offered to guest blog on other websites as well as opportunities for contracts, job offers & networking.
Don’t forget to create an RSS Feed for your regular fans ( wordpress creates this automatically as it was developed for blogging purposes just use www.yourdomain.com/feed or alternatively set up a feedburner account so you can see exactly how many fans you currently have subscribed to your account! ).
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Have you got some more ideas about what works well on website menus? Please share this post with your social circle using the buttons below and discuss the article in the comment box below.