Conversations on Website Conversion discussion

We rely heavily upon signposting in almost every aspect of our lives. From looking for the right screen at a multi-screen movie theater, to trying to find the right product in an unfamiliar grocery store, to navigating our way across cities, we rely on signs constantly.

This is no different in our usage of the internet. Self-explanatory navigation involves a lot of signposting from the “you are here” notice to signs that tell you what lies in each direction. When designing your site’s navigation it is usually best to stick with convention—it is what people expect and have already learned to deal with, so it will involve the least amount of thinking on their part.

All the pages should have a matching outside frame that includes navigation items and a Site ID. You can check out the section starting on page 60 to learn more about web conventions.

How conventional is your website? Quickly go through the quiz on pages 86-89 and check your answers. Now choose a random page off of your own (or a friend’s) website and see how it measures up to the test. What changes do you think may be beneficial?

I heard an interesting quote the other day that on smaller websites (ones without a huge number of products) - if your customers were using your search function instead of your navigation - you should take a hard look at your navigation - because it probably wasn't working that well for your visitors - what's been your experience as a visitor on an e-commerce website - do you just go automatically to search or do you try to use the navigation? When do you give up on trying to navigate?

I really enjoyed this chapter. I live in the LA area and I never realized consciously it's true we have great street and freeway signs. It's so needed to direct the multitude of cars on the road here. It makes navigating so much easier, just like on the web. A site that has large sized, easy to read font makes it so much easier on the user.

With regards to your question Marty, I automatically go to the search box on most sites. I usually know what I'm looking for and don't want to have to deal with navigation. It is so frustrating to me when I arrive at a site that doesn't have a search box above the fold (somewhere in plain site, large, and easy for me to find) especially if it's a large site. To be honest this is something that bothers me greatly about PT's site. It is such a necessary feature.

Loved this chapter too. Back to the basics!
Having lived in northern CA, it felt like the freeway signs were "Seattle this way", "LA that way". It felt as though the cities in between were never mentioned, until I missed the exit while driving in the left lane.
This can be true of websites too - home and my cart - best of luck in between.
Whether I browse or search is relevant to my time limit and interest. Straight to search for items I need (groceries, cleaning items). Browse for items I want.