Guidance on the Art of Website Usability - SLI Systems Releases ‘Big Book of Navigation Tips’

Sept. 4, 2011 - PRLog -- Melbourne, Australia – SLI Systems (www.sli-systems.com) today announced that its latest downloadable e-book, ‘Big Book of Navigation Tips’, is now available from the company’s website. The e-book offers more than 50 tips for delivering an optimal site navigation experience, making it faster and easier for online visitors to find the products and content they seek.

With expert advice provided by SLI’s team of search and navigation specialists, the ‘Big Book of Navigation Tips’ covers several topical categories, including Navigation Design, Integration with Ratings and Reviews, Refinement Display, SEO, Merchandising and Mobile Navigation. The primary focus of the e-book is to help e-retailers and publishers reduce site abandonment by providing visitors with the most direct route to the desired content through good website usability, while also avoiding navigational ‘dead ends’ or design clutter that impedes their progress.

“Complex and poorly designed navigation leads to site abandonment – and worse, can tarnish a brand’s reputation,” said Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems. “As with well-designed site search, carefully thought-out site navigation shortens the time it takes for visitors to get from a site’s home page to the content or items they desire, and will improve click-throughs and conversions. The Big Book of Navigation Tips explains how to bring good navigation design to any site – whether on the web or in the mobile world.”

Many of the tips in the ‘Big Book of Navigation Tips’ offer easy fixes to common navigational problems. For instance, one tip suggests eliminating unnecessary refinement options that visitors aren’t using, so as not to overwhelm them with too many navigational choices. Site owners should examine site usage reports to determine which refinements are not as popular as others, and remove rarely used options.

The book’s section on Mobile Navigation is particularly relevant given the explosive use of mobile devices for web browsing, shopping and socially sharing.

“Mobile site navigation presents specific challenges relating to screen size and network speeds,” Ryan said. “It’s especially critical that mobile users be able to navigate quickly and easily. Our collection of tips includes several ideas for keeping mobile navigation simple and easy to follow.”

For example, site owners should make navigational links large enough so that touch screen users can easily click on them without mistakenly clicking through to another page.

SLI’s ‘Big Book of Navigation Tips’ can be downloaded from the company’s website.