Why do you need Megamenu and how to make a great one?

The menu is one of the primary instruments of navigation for the user — it plays a vital role in increasing the website’s usability and ability to engage and convert.

These days, the websites often apply a multi-faceted mega menu that organizes large amounts of content into a coherent entity for the sake of the user’s comfort.

In this article, we will:

• Explain the benefits of implementing megamenu to the website;
• Go through cases in which a mega menu will enhance your website;
• Describe how to make an efficient mega menu;

When do you need to use a mega menu?

A mega menu is a type of navigation menu that shows the most important elements of the website structure in a neat easy-to-follow package.

It shows all available options at once broken into contextual sections. The mega menu can be located in a vertical, horizontal position and also as a hamburger menu (depending on the chosen website design scheme).

In terms of helping to accomplish business goals, a mega menu is a viable option for the fields like:

• eCommerce — selling products online
• Product companies/startups — increasing the visibility of the website presentation and encouraging people to contact you for business queries
• Consumer brands — selling products, inducing product discovery, developing a following
• Blogs, news sites, etc — developing a community, growing, nurturing a consistent following, getting subscribers

Now let’s take a look at the cases when the use of the mega menu is necessary.

1. When the website structure is complex

The standard menu becomes inefficient for proper navigation when the website features lots of different types of content.

Too broad navigation menu results in the user getting disoriented and frustrated.

• Megamenu provides a solution by showing the structure in a cohesive, easy-to-follow format.

In cases with eCommerce marketplaces, there is a need to show a full variety of shopping options and related sections of the website (like product listings, user cabinet, etc.).

Here’s how Envelopes.com makes its intricate menu easy to follow.

In cases of product websites, there is a need to showcase all relevant features without overloading the screen.

A good approach can be seen at Evernote. They make its product menu easy to follow with to-the-point titles and instantly recognizable functional icons.

In contrast, news sites or influencer blogs require faceted menus for proper navigation over the breadth of content.

It’s important to note that the mega menu is not the place to throw in everything and the kitchen sink. Too many menu options can be overwhelming and it would neuter the purpose of the menu. Instead, one should focus on the essential navigation option for crucial sections of the website.

2. When you need to maintain availability for multiple audience segments

The goal here is not only to cover the needs of the core audience but also to make a menu easy to follow for everybody.

• A multi-level menu helps users to make sense of the website structure. As a result, the website is more usable and engaging.

This aspect increases the accessibility of the website menu. Megamenu shows the big picture and leads to the relevant section. The user instantly understands where to go to find the information they are looking for.

This aspect makes mega menus very helpful in keeping things simple for multiple audience segments with different skill levels and needs. Even more so on mobile where getting to the point is a matter of life and death.

Take a look at the menu layout of The Politico. Once you click on it — you can see where to find anything of note.

Mega menus allow visually distinct category grouping. In contrast, a simple dropdown can become dizzying when the number of menu sections gets too large.

That is one of the reasons why mega menus apply column structure. This kind of structure makes it easy to break down the categories into multiple levels.

3. When you need bigger emphasis on a visual delivery

One of the biggest constraints of simple dropdown menus is that you only deal with texts and links. This may result in bland and uninvolving delivery.

In contrast, mega menus are able to add visuals to the fold. This provides a website with a powerful tool to arrange more accessible navigation.

• You can include icons as a shorthand for certain content categories on the menu. You can also use Labels to accentuate specific sections of the menu.

Here’s how Sears is doing that. Each icon is self-explanatory.

• You can implement a visual reel that would include thumbnails with either recent or most popular pieces of the category.

Here’s how Wayfair uses images to illustrate product categories:

How to organize the mega menu sections?

Now, let’s break down how to make an effective megamenu.

1. Defining Menu Sections

Defining mega menu sections is a balancing act between exhaustiveness and convenience.

• Sections need to reflect the website’s purpose and structure
• It has to be easy to follow and not overwhelming

Let’s look at the most effective methods of defining sections and its titles:

• Section’s role in user experience. If the particular website section is vital for proper user experience (like product catalog on the marketplace) — it makes the cut to megamenu. Here’s how Build.com is doing it:

• Use descriptive labels. While naming the clothes section “garbs” is definitely a creative choice, it will do no good for casual users. Also, avoid long and winding titles. Just get to the point.

Here’s how Adidas’ megamenu uses short and instantly understandable titles for the shop sections:

• Use each menu option once. Putting one menu option two times in different sections is a bit too much. It would be best if you kept things concise.

2. Grouping Menu Sections

Section groupings depend on the context. Here’s what you need to do to nail it down:

• Put them in order of importance from the user’s POV. The rule of thumb is the value to the target audience. For example, if it is a news site — then it is news. Here’s how HuffPost is doing it:

As you can see there is a clear-cut left-to-right structure. The news section is on the left and then the menu expands into main topics such as politics and entertainment.

• Put options into related groups. You can do grouping either by category (like office utilities) or by brand (like Nike, Adidas, etc.). For example, notebooks, post-it notes, and erasers under the “office utilities” category, while Nike sportswear and shoes are under the Nike brand. Here’s how NikePlus is grouping their products:

• Avoid too many subcategories. Too many options at hand require more time to scan. Focus on the essential sections either by context or user demand. Let’s put it this way — if your mega menu contains so many options, you need a search bar to find one — you’re doing it wrong. Here’s how Puma brand keeps its megamenu streamlined to essentials:

3. Implementing Visuals / Images and Icons

The primary purpose of the menu is to show where to find what. In some cases, you can accentuate the content of the section by the relevant image — a brand logo or an object closely associated with the topic.

The best way to explain it is with eCommerce marketplaces. Take a look at this Disney shop megamenu.

As you can see, in addition to the highly structured list of categories, some icons underline broad categories with instantly understandable images.

• The key to effective implementation of images to the mega menu is its descriptiveness. The image needs to explain the nature of the content of the section.

In addition to attaching relevant images to the menu, you can add labels to communicate important changes to the user.

For example, you can add a “trending” label to a popular topic. In the case of marketplaces, you can add “updated” or “new items” labels to product categories to attract user’s attention.

4. Making mobile mega menu

These days, people tend to browse sites or marketplaces more on mobile than desktop. Because of that, it makes sense to maintain mega menu usability on mobile too.

The challenge is that smartphone screen space is relatively limited and you can’t really go Broadway on it.

• A good way to solve this challenge is to separate a mobile mega menu from the desktop one. This way you can optimize it to the needs of the mobile screen.

In conclusion

The implementation of the mega menu better shows what the website has to offer to the user. If done right, megamenu is a powerful usability tool for the website. It can make the website much more accessible and interesting to explore.

In the past, making a mega menu requires a lot of fiddling and can be a chore for designers. Elementor greatly simplifies things, but the actual efficiency depends on the chosen plugin.