Global navigation aides refer to tools that appear on every page of the website. Visitors are comfortable using these tools because they appear consistently no matter which page of the website is being viewed.
1. Navigation aides
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs show the way back to “home” (the term comes from the nursery rhyme Hansel & Gretel.) They are important because they help visitors to your website orient themselves within your site structure. They are usually hyperlinked to each of the pages above the current page, so they allow the visitor to easily back track to higher level pages.
www.topgear.com/au/peugeot/308/road-test/cc-1.6-thp-150-gt
www.korbond.co.uk/product-range/dressmaker-tools/sewing-kits/
www.livewire.org.au/about-livewire/
Global search
By convention, the global search is located in the top right part of the screen. It facilitates searching of all the pages in the site.
The logo
Clicking on the website’s logo should provide a short cut to the home page (some visitors will know this, some won’t.)
Top level menu navigation
The top level of the menu navigation should be the same, no matter which page in the site is being viewed.