In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic - OPTASY would like to offer DRUPAL website support for any Healthcare, Government, Education and Non-Profit Organization(s) with critical crisis communication websites or organizations directly providing relief. Stay Safe and Stay Well.

Want to Make Your Website Easier to Navigate? - See How
Tips

Want to Make Your Website Easier to Navigate? - See How

by Raluca Olariu on May 25 2021

 

If there's one thing that modern website visitors want, that is streamlined experiences.

In the hectic environment established by the COVID-19 pandemic, people crave online experiences that are accessible, fast, and simple. 

That's why, now more than ever, making website navigation easy and intuitive is imperative to meet your audience's needs. And be careful; just because your website looks good doesn't mean it's easy to navigate. 

In this article, we'll see why it's essential to put yourself in your visitors' shoes when crafting your web navigation, and we'll explore some best practices for making your website easier to navigate. 

 

Best Practice #1: Understand How Users Interact with Different Devices

 

With most people going online through mobile devices, it's essential to look at your website through their lens to create relevant website experiences for them. It's in human nature to look for patterns and seek comfort, so make sure that your menu is easy to find and your pages simple to navigate. 

The switch from desktops to mobile devices has caused many websites to build less obvious navigation menus. While the "hamburger menu" is a convenient solution from the point of view of design and it best suits desktop users, it can make navigation menus harder to find for mobile users. That's why a lot of websites still opt for sidebars, a drop-down menu, or tab bars to make sure they don't compromise on website navigation. 

 

Best Practice #2: Build a Clear, Legible Website Navigation

 

At this point, you want to avoid:

- Narrow fonts

- Tight scripts 

- Unclear titles and text

There's nothing more frustrating than getting lost on a website because navigation titles are confusing or vague. Most visitors will not want to come back to this. Your primary focus here should be to deliver easy-to-understand navigation, text instead of icons for menu items, and clear categories for each page. 

The design of your page can also contribute to your website navigation being legible. For example, use clear contrast in your navigation menu and try to avoid dark-on-dark or light-on-light combinations. 

 

Best Practice #3: Don't Forget About Search Functionality

 

Search functionality is excellent for users that expect specific guidance on a website rather than clicking through links. They will leave your site happy and eager to come back later.

By improving your search functionality, you provide a safety net for making your site navigation easy—there's no going wrong with it as it fully supports the user experience. Investing in your search functionality can also improve your conversion rate, yet many sites still neglect it. 

To help your visitors spot the search bar more quickly, you can put the text inside a box and offset it in a different color from your site's color scheme. Another important aspect is the functionality of your search results page. For example, work on making product searches filterable and adjust your search bar to filter out unwanted categories. 

It may seem like a lot of work for a search bar tool, but if your want your website to be easy to navigate, search functionality is a must. 

 

Best Practice #4: Build a Website Map

 

Sitemaps are like a directory of your website.

Besides paving the way for streamlined site navigation, sitemaps are also essential for SEO. So, if you want to kill two birds with one stone, build your website map–you'll give your users more navigation options and improve your SEO functionality. 

You can choose from HTML sitemaps, which provide links to the essential pages of your website, or XML sitemaps, which help a search engine navigate your website. You can also choose both options, combine them to suit your website needs, and provide a streamlined navigation experience. 

 

Keeping Up with the Modern Digital User

 

There's no doubt about it: online users expect top-notch digital experiences and choose websites that can keep up with these expectations.

Taking the time to invest in improving your site navigation is the first step in your quest to keep up with digital trends. 

At Optasy, we know how vital it is to stay relevant in the online environment with websites that provide future-oriented designs and a personalized user experience. We can help you improve your digital posture and take your web development projects to the next level. 

 

Photo credit: Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash.

 

 

 

Development

We do Web development

Go to our Web development page!

Visit page!

Recommended Stories

DrupalTips
How to Migrate Your Drupal Website to Another Host in 5 Steps

How to Migrate Your Drupal Website to Another Host in 5 Steps

  Website owners may need to migrate their web host at some point during their business journey due to the emergence of more lucrative hosting options, such as VPS, shared, or dedicated hosting. This is why many website managers choose to perform host migration. This article offers guidance on managing hosting server migration, one of the most widely-used DevOps services. It does so by breaking down five crucial steps that can lead to a successful migration. What are the factors to consider when moving a Drupal website to a new hosting server? Deciding to change web hosts can be a challenging decision. However, there are several indications that your website may need hosting updates, which can be identified if you know where to look. Although it may be difficult to admit, taking this step will improve your website's performance. Here's a guide on how to identify these indicators on your Drupal website. There is a recurring problem with downtime. Website downtime can harm your reputation as a service provider. The quality of your hosting equipment and security features can impact your site's availability and protection against cyber-attacks. Your host is hard to reach. Efficient communication between a website owner and their web host is crucial. In the event of a server crash or error, prompt contact with the host is necessary for troubleshooting and restoring the site's functionality. Having an unreliable host can negatively impact website functionality and customer retention. Therefore, having a dependable customer service team available is essential for providing optimal user experiences and promoting business success. Your current hosting fees are high. Running a website can require a significant investment in web hosting. It's a recurring expense that you should choose carefully. The most expensive option may not be necessary. Consider the features and server space that your host provides and compare them to your site's needs. Don't overspend on hosting that doesn't fit your requirements. You can always upgrade to a more expensive plan later. The level of security provided may not meet your requirements. Investing in a secure web host can be advantageous for your website as it prioritizes security measures. Investing in a secure hosting server can prevent data loss, compromised user data, and damage to your credibility with your audience. Consider specific features and plugins, such as Secure Sockets Layer certificates, malware scanning, and server firewalls, when selecting a web host. Instructions for migrating to a different hosting provider The process of migrating a Drupal site to a new host involves contacting the current host, backing up the database, connecting to a new server, and uploading files. It is common for issues to arise during this process, such as corrupted backups. To avoid potential issues, consider hiring a professional agency like Optasy to complete the migration process for you. This may help save resources and ensure a smooth transition. Before migrating to a new web hosting server, it's important to follow essential steps. Let's examine some of them. 1. Turn Drupal caching off. To prevent possible disruptions, the initial action is to access the Drupal admin dashboard and follow these steps. To disable caching, navigate to Configuration, Performance, and Caching, then select "No Caching." To disable "Aggregate CSS files" and "Aggregate JavaScript files" in "bandwidth optimization" and ensure all caches are cleared, click "Clear all caches." 2. It is recommended to create a backup of your Drupal files. To connect to your remote server, enter the connection details and select "QuickConnect" to establish a connection with the server hosting your website. To back up your Drupal files, simply download the content from your main site's folder onto your local device. 3. Export your Drupal database. Access the phpMyAdmin tool located in the Database section of your server's control panel. To export your Drupal site database, select "Check all" and then choose the "Export method" and "SQL" options. 4. Transfer the Drupal database to the new hosting provider. To create a new MySQL database on the target server, click on "Import" located at the top of the database. Afterward, select "Choose File" and click "Go." This will successfully restore your site on the new hosting from the backup. 5. Turn on Drupal caching. Go to Configuration - Performance - Enable Drupal caching. And that's it! Your host migration process is completed. Conclusion Building and managing a Drupal website involves various complexities, with hosting being a particularly challenging aspect. A wide range of hosting options are available, which can make it a daunting task to determine the most suitable one for your website requirements. Optasy's team of Drupal experts can provide assistance and guidance on server migration and hosting server management.   Photo credit: Unsplash.... Read more
Raluca Olariu / Mar 23'2023
DrupalTips
How SEO Helps Your Website Grow

How SEO Helps Your Website Grow

  Search engine optimization (SEO) is a powerful tool for helping your website grow and reach its full potential. SEO involves optimizing your website to make it easier for search engines like Google to find and rank it in their search results. By using SEO techniques such as keyword research, content optimization, link building, and more, you can increase the visibility of your website and attract more visitors. With the right SEO strategy in place, you can drive more traffic to your site and generate more leads and sales. In this article, we'll discuss how SEO can help your website grow and become successful. What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it is the process of optimizing a website to make it easier for search engines like Google to find and rank it in their search results. SEO involves a variety of techniques, such as keyword research, content optimization, link building, and more. By using these techniques, you can increase your website’s visibility and attract more visitors. SEO helps your website become more visible in the search engine results pages (SERPs), which can lead to more traffic, leads, and sales. Benefits of SEO for Website Growth Let's have a look at some of the top benefits of SEO for website growth: Increased visibility: SEO helps your website become more visible in the search query, which can lead to more traffic and leads. Improved user experience: SEO also helps enhance the user experience of your website by making it easier to navigate and providing relevant content. Increased brand awareness: SEO can help boost brand awareness by making your website more visible in the SERPs, which can lead to more people recognizing your brand. Higher conversion rates: SEO can also help increase your website's conversion rate by making it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for and take the desired action. More organic traffic: SEO can help you drive more organic traffic to your website, which is free and highly targeted. Keyword Research for SEO Keyword research is an important part of SEO, and it involves finding the right keywords to target for your website. Keyword research helps you identify the words and phrases that people are searching for when looking for products or services related to your business. By targeting these keywords, you can increase your website’s visibility in the SERPs and attract more organic traffic. When doing keyword research, you can use specialized software to make the job easier. Content Optimization for SEO Content optimization involves optimizing your website’s content to make it more relevant to search engines. Content optimization includes optimizing titles, meta descriptions, headings, images, and other elements of your website’s content. Many companies rely on a solid blog approach to boost their content optimization strategy and highlight their SEO efforts. Link-Building Strategies for SEO Link-building is another top SEO strategy, and it involves creating backlinks to your website from other websites. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website, and they can help improve your website’s visibility in the SERPs. There are a variety of link-building strategies you can use to build backlinks for your website. These include guest blogging, directory submissions, social media marketing, and more. Conclusion SEO is an important part of website growth, and it can help you increase your website’s visibility in the SERPs, attract more organic traffic, and boost your conversion rates.  In the competitive digital world, brands that harness the power of SEO are on top of the game.  If you, too, want to integrate SEO into your web development project and are looking for professional advice, don't hesitate to contact Optasy. Optasy is a web development company that provides complete web development and maintenance services that support business growth.  Photo credit: Unsplash.  ... Read more
Raluca Olariu / Feb 14'2023
Tips
Website Security Best Practices

Website Security Best Practices

  Website security is an important consideration for any business or organization with an online presence. With the ever-increasing threats posed by cybercriminals, it is essential to ensure that your website is secure and protected from malicious attacks. Implementing best practices in website security can help protect your website from hackers, malware, and other malicious activities and security issues. This article will discuss some of the best practices for website security and how you can stay away from cybercriminals and improve your security posture.    "Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, and it boils down to this: in cybersecurity, the more systems we secure, the more secure we all are." - Jeh Johnson Overview of Cybersecurity in 2023 The cybersecurity landscape heads towards a privacy-first approach to information security in 2023. Also, aligning regulations globally will allow businesses to gain more security and data protection.  There are growing voices that give their positive vote to passwordless authentication, which will presumably eliminate the risk of password breaches and amplify organizational security.  However, the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices will likely increase security risks for organizations and expose more security vulnerabilities.  So how can websites cope and become more agile and accessible in this uncertain cyber landscape?   Best Website Security Practices in 2023 At the moment, the best website security practices involve a combination of proactive measures and reactive responses. Proactive measures include implementing strong authentication methods, encrypting data, and regularly patching software. Reactive responses include monitoring suspicious activity and responding quickly to identified security threats or security breaches. Strong Authentication Multi-factor authentication is one of the most important best practices for website security. It involves using two or more factors to verify a user’s identity, such as strong login credentials, and a biometric factor like a fingerprint or facial recognition. This ensures that only authorized users can access the website and its data, protecting it from unauthorized access. Additionally, strong authentication can help protect against phishing attacks, which are attempts to gain access to sensitive information by posing as a legitimate website. Encryption Encrypting data is another significant best practice for website security. Encryption scrambles data so that it can only be read by the intended recipient, making it more difficult for hackers to access sensitive information. It also helps protect against man-in-the-middle attacks, which occur when a hacker intercepts data as it is being transmitted between two parties. Software Patching Software updates are another important best practice for website security. Regularly patching software helps protect against vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. It also ensures that the latest security features are in place, making it more difficult for attackers to access sensitive information. Monitoring and Response Reactive responses like monitoring suspicious activities or responding quickly to identified threats are two valuable tools for website security. Monitoring for suspicious activity can help identify potential threats before they become a problem. Responding quickly to identified threats can help minimize the damage caused by malicious code. Conclusion Keeping websites secure in 2023 involves a combination of proactive measures and reactive responses. These best practices are just some measures you can take to protect your digital assets. If you want to go more in-depth and opt for complex ways to secure your website, don't hesitate to contact Optasy.    Photo credit: Pixabay.... Read more
Raluca Olariu / Jan 25'2023

Need a new Project?

Dare us to shape and boost your idea(s)!

Start a Project

(416) 243-2431

Contact

(416) 243-2431

Toronto Downtown

First Canadian Place,
100 King St. W. Suite 5700, Toronto

Toronto West

2275 Upper Middle
Rd. E, Suite 101
Toronto

New York

1177 Avenue of the
Americas, 5th Floor,
New York