Nonprofit Website Navigation: Tips and Best Practices

Website Strategy | by Alex McLain | March 26, 2014
Navigation is one of the most import building blocks to your nonprofit’s website. It’s one of the first items users see on your site, and it is the system that leads to all of your content. So, it stands to reason that your navigation needs to be as functional as possible.

Now for the tricky part; there are about a million ways to tackle your site’s navigation. Do you have a lot of content, or only a little bit? Should your navigation be on the top or over to the side? What’s right for your site?

First and foremost, you need to organize and categorize your site content. This will help your navigation be clean, clear, and free from clutter. A navigation system is the road map through your site. If confusing, users can get lost, frustrated with their experience, and ultimately leave before engaging with any of the important information you have to offer.

Primary v. Secondary NavigationThe contents of primary and secondary navigation differ from site to site. What might be considered primary on one site, could be secondary on another. This varies depending on what information each organization deems most important, and can be a daunting task for larger, more complex sites. How do you decide what information goes where?

Primary Navigation refers to the content that users are most interested in, and usually holds the most prominent real estate. For your nonprofit, primary navigation could be links like About Us, Mission, Services, Blog, Volunteer Opportunities, or Donate.

Secondary Navigation then refers to the content of secondary interest to users. Secondary navigation also usually holds a prominent spot on the site. Items like log-in or register links, and social media icons are found in the secondary navigation. Even links to a shop, various resources, or a call to request more information about your organization can be found in the secondary navigation.
READ MORE