There are thousands of hosting web sites out there, but is there a proven formula of what the main navigation buttons and pages should be?

Home Page, About Us, Packages/Shop, Links, Contact Us?

Do i need a members or webmail in the main navigation button or should they be sub buttons? if you went to a web hosting company what sections would you want to see on thier site???

Hello,

I don't think there is any formula for the main navigation menus or navigation buttons. It depends much on the contents, design, look and feel of your website.

Yeah, I don't really think there is a formula... however I think that sabian has a good question. It would be nice to know what the "recommended" or most popular/successful style/type of layout is. In terms of usability, user appreciation, etc.

usability and the user experience doesn't just depend on WHAT the navigational structure is but also depends upon how it is presented. Usability will go way down if you use tiny text or other methods that prevent a good user experience.

There are sites that have, for example, three main choices that start users down a particular path which hopefully will lead to a goal/conversion (lead generated, signup or sale, etc) at the end of each. There could and most likely would be ancillary navigation that is persistent throughout the path for basic information (about/contact/glossary/privacy/legal/etc). This is a different approach than the normal persistent global navigation and is very effective for some. It all depends on your audience and your goals. You will find that your results will vary with your approach, and one size does not fit all.

That said, best of luck!

I agree with Plexi_Hosting, in that there are many ways to alter the usability and still keep it strong. Though most usability pros seem to shy away from altering what the end-user expects too much, especially when sales are involved!

In the hosting market specifically, I think if you display the expected information/links in an expected space (the top/sidebar of the page) you wont run into any problems.

Just my $0.02,
--m

If you pretend to change your look, here comes some advices...stay in touch with your customers, give them what they're looking for, visit your competitor's site to see their efforts and try to bring something new to your clients...This is my formula, what colors or buttons to use, only your business can tell you....

The only thing that turns me off is when "Support" is the first link in the navigation.

It makes it seem (to me) like the customers have to use support all of the time, so it is first to make it easy for them to click/find (although that may be a good thing now that I think about it since people may think that you have good support since you list it first ;))

What I usually do after setting up a design or testing tweaks is email about 10 people (ie grandparents, family, few non net friends) who are non exp net users and ask them if it flows well and if they can find a few things, seems to work kinks out that me and other avid net users can't see.

The only thing that turns me off is when "Support" is the first link in the navigation.

Hmmm i did have a Support link at in the main navigation but i recently changed it.

I have adding some text about support on the main index page but other than that support is through the main contact page of the site or through the CPanel knowledge base!!!

I mean if i had a problem and needed support id go to the contact page? wldnt you???

The only thing that turns me off is when "Support" is the first link in the navigation.

It makes it seem (to me) like the customers have to use support all of the time, so it is first to make it easy for them to click/find (although that may be a good thing now that I think about it since people may think that you have good support since you list it first ;))


Support is the first thing I'd check, as this is the most important aspect when choosing a host. Ok, it might not need to be placed no.1, but you'll certainly want to beef it up so that no customer would leave that page with any questions.... Web mail, billing login, stats etc could be in a "My Accoun" or similar page, even combined with support.