For many people who design websites, one thing is sure that they have spent lots of time in thinking where the main navigation should be placed. Even though this is a very minor thing, it has a great impact on the website’s overall performance. A finely placed element can either break the design or make the whole design. The most essential thing in website design is the way in which the content and design complement each other.

Vertical navigation

Too much space is used up by side navigation. Many a times, the side bar of the website is reserved for widgets or advertisements. So there is always a question, whether side navigation is practical or not? There are some websites that deal with daily events and technology news, so they place these categories on the sides, instead of placing them at the top. The same is the case with Yahoo.com, the navigation of which is on the right side. There have additions and removals of menus throughout the year, without any changes being made in the layout. Right handed people are usually comfortable looking at the left hand side of the screen and this is main reason of many websites having contents on the left hand side.

Horizontal navigation

You should carefully think about placing the navigation below your logo or at the top of the page. It is good for future expansion, apart from the purpose and design. Today, top navigation is used by many websites with some exceptional menus on the side bar, for example Google+ and Facebook.

Is side navigation practical?

Even though side navigation is not practical for websites, but for services and tools such as your mailbox and WordPress, it definitely is. Side navigation is very useful for websites and blogs that are updated on a regular basis.