Navigation is how visitors move through your site and find what they need. It's the system of links and cues that help people understand where they are and how to get somewhere else. Good navigation feels natural and intuitive — visitors shouldn't have to stop and think about where to click next.
The Many Ways People Navigate
Your site offers several ways for visitors to move between pages. Together, these create a complete navigation system:
- Menus: Show your site's main sections, usually at the top or side of a page
- Breadcrumbs: A short trail near the top that shows where the page fits in your site (for example, Home > About > Our History)
- Search: Lets users find content directly by typing keywords
- Links within pages: Inline links, buttons, or related content boxes that connect one page to another
Each tool plays a part in helping visitors find what they need and understand how your content connects.
Navigation and Site Structure
Navigation and site structure work hand in hand. Think of your site like a map:
- The structure is where your content lives — the pages and how they're organized
- Navigation is how visitors travel between those places — there are many routes to reach the same destination
For example, Los Angeles and San Francisco don't move, but you can reach them by many routes — Interstate 5, Highway 101, or a scenic coastal road. The same is true for your website: pages stay in one place, but visitors can reach them through menus, breadcrumbs, links, or search. A clear structure makes navigation feel effortless.
Menus
Menus are one of the main ways people move through your site. They show top-level sections and help visitors jump directly to what interests them. The following guidance covers how menus work and how to design them effectively.
How to Organize Your Menu
- Keep top-level navigation to 5–7 items
- Use short, descriptive labels — avoid jargon or internal terminology
- Group related content under logical parent pages
- Add subpages only when the content genuinely needs a separate page
- Avoid nesting more than two levels deep — if visitors need to click three or more times to find something, consider reorganizing
Menu Label Best Practices
- Use title case for menu labels (for example, "About Us" not "about us" or "ABOUT US")
- Be specific — "Research Programs" is clearer than "Programs"
- Avoid using the same label for different pages across your site
- Do not use external links in your main navigation — keep navigation internal