Here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design professionals. From Wigan to Southport, we work with companies across Manchester and the surrounding region to deliver high quality web design solutions that really get results. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything you should know about using navigation bars in website headers.
What are the advantages of fixed header navigation bars in web design?
Positioning the website navigation bar in the header can be a great option, bringing a number of benefits and advantages. These include:
- Consistency across all pages- the navigation bar, when placed in the header of the website will be consistent on all website pages, making it easy for your website users, and potential customers and clients to find and use. This is one of the key factors of providing an effective user experience, and it also helps to give your website a professional edge.
- Increased visibility- a navigation bar in the header part of the screen is likely to be the first thing that many of your website users see when your website loads. This instant visibility helps speed up the process for your potential customers or clients, who may be looking for specific information, or want to book or buy quickly. By meeting this requirement, your website is sure to lead to a more positive user experience, and this can even lead to an increase in sales and sign ups.
- Supports minimalist web design- instead of positioning the navigation bar as a prominent feature of the above the fold content, a navigation bar within the header area can be much more subtle, leaving the space open for the large hero image, video, or typography you want to use as the main above the fold attraction. This helps your website make an instant impact on your audience, and can help to improve sales and sign ups.
What are the considerations for positioning navigation bars inside website headers?
If you plan to use this design layout for your navigation bar, there are some things to bear in mind. These include:
- The height of the header- headers tend to be narrow on websites, so you will need to make sure that your navigation labels are small enough to fit into the narrow line, while still being easy to read. This can become more complicated for websites with many pages.
- Drop down options probably aren’t a good fit- positioning the navigation bar within the header is much more practical for websites with 5 to 8 pages, rather than those with many different categories. This is because the more pages there are, the more options are needed, and it simply wont fit in the space provided, or be a good use of space in general.
- Mobile web design- mobile web design is more important than ever before. On a mobile site, the website header can appear very small, or may be removed completely. In this instance, it is probably best to use a more traditional mobile navigation option, like a hamburger menu or a slide out menu, rather than sticking to the header navigation bar for mobile users. This will increase usability and functionality.
For more information or advice, or for high quality, professional web design solutions, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.