Website Menu Styles – Did you know there were options?
The menu is possibly the most integral component of a website, in terms of functionality. It guides the navigation and flow of the pages. It’s important to have the menu stand out, so that visitors to your website can instantly identify where to go for more information.
Although functionality is primary, the look of the menu is also important. You can customize the colours, font, and height of the menu through the website editor. You can also choose from 3 different styles. Try out the different options to see which style best suits your website look and layout.
STYLE 1 – DROP DOWN MENU
This menu displays horizontally across the width of your website. When you place your mouse over a category, a list of pages displays underneath, or “drop down”. In this example, we’ve used a purple colour scheme for the website and menu. Also, note that the menu items are evenly spread out across the width of the site. This alignment is tidy and symmetrical.
STYLE 2 – HORIZONTAL MENU
This is our newest menu style. It is horizontal, spanning across the width of the page, like the Drop Down Menu, but it has some differences. Pages are listed horizontally underneath the parent category. When you place your mouse over a page, the text becomes underlined. This style can look really sleek and modern, but you have to make sure you’re using it correctly. Since the pages display under each category, your website must be wide enough to accommodate the titles of the pages. If it isn’t, some pages will simply not display on the menu.
STYLE 3 – VERTICAL MENU
This last menu displays vertically on either the left or right sides of your website. The pages display under the current, open category. You also have the option to expand the menu, so that all pages show at once. This provides direct links to all the pages on your website, but can extend down quite long on the page. The expanded version works best with a smaller amount of categories/pages. You can also change the alignment of the text in the menu, to make it left, center, or right aligned, and you can easily sort the order of the categories. Furthermore, there are 10 style options available for this menu, including some Flash effects. The style displayed below is Style 8.
If you’re unsure how to make these changes, simply call support or sign up for the Website Editing & Search Engine Optimization training course at www.RealWebAcademy.com.
As you can see, different menu styles can really affect your site’s layout. The colours you select for the menu also make a big difference. So play around with your menu, but keep in mind that the menu should guide users through your site. It should always be accessible, easy to understand, and intuitive.
Authored by: Tara, Client Relations