The homepage of a website for users is like Emerald City for Dorothy and Toto. To get there, they had one route: the yellow brick road. Well, websites only need one route home as well, and for many years it has been the home button on the site’s navigational menu.
But now a clickable logo will also take you back to the homepage and not only are users aware of this, but often they prefer it as a universal method of returning to a site’s homepage. And just as Dorothy didn’t need two yellow brick roads to get her to the green capital of Oz, you don’t need two routes home for your users either.
Only using a clickable logo
Ditching the home button from your navigation menu not only creates a better experience for your users by simplifying their choices, it also limits the number of items in your navigation menu. This allows search engines to better read your site which should help with your overall search rankings.
It also gives your users a better controlled experience; less is often more when it comes to a website’s content and when you don’t overload your user with options, they tend to navigate your site faster and more efficiently. Keeping your menu navigation simple and limited gives users less choices, which can help them identify their needs faster and ultimately provide a better experience.
Clicking the logo to get back to your site’s homepage is something that majority of your users understand and actually prefer. Plus there is a lot of ways a clickable logo can benefit your business. Not only is there less clutter on the navigation bar when the home button is removed, but a clickable logo will draw more attention to your logo and could ultimately help grow your brand.
It’s what all the big guys are doing
Hey, hey—we aren’t copy cats by any means, but a lot of the bigger corporations are using clickable logos instead of a home button on their navigation menu as well. So it’s pretty safe to say that this practice is more than just a trend, as some would argue.
Take a look at Starbucks’, Target’s, and Apple’s websites—all of their sites have clickable logos instead of a home button in the navigation menu. And because of this, their navigation menu is clean and better organized. Plus, their clickable logos reinforce their brand when users click them to go back to the site’s homepage.
Our goal is easy navigation for your users
Behind every website we design, creating an excellent user experience is a core focus. We truly believe that your site’s functionality is strongest when the navigation menu is simple, clean, and limited to showing the best parts of your website. A repetitive home button on the navigational menu doesn’t do this for your site, which is why we strongly recommend removing it.
Instead, let us create a great looking logo for your site that will be linked back to your homepage. This will:
- Declutter your navigational menu
- Reinforce your brand
- Promote easier navigation for your users
- Create an overall better user experience
So, that’s why you shouldn’t have a home button the navigation menu. Our goal is to send those home buttons somewhere over the rainbow because the clickable logo is here to stay.
