Components: Navigation Menu

Guides navigation menu design for SEO, UX, and accessibility. Navigation helps users find content and signals site structure to search engines.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1-2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for key pages and audience.

Identify:

1. Site structure: Main sections, hierarchy
2. Primary goals: Conversion paths, key pages
3. Platform: Web, mobile, both

Structure & Organization

Menu Size

• Primary nav: 7-9 items; avoid overwhelming users
• Sub-navigation: Up to 2 levels; deeper topics in sub-menus
• Pattern: Horizontal top nav or vertical side nav; avoid novel patterns

Hierarchy

• Reflect sitemap structure; need not match exactly
• Prioritize what visitors need most
• Logical grouping by topic or task

SEO Best Practices

Practice	Purpose
Semantic HTML	<nav>, <ul>, <li>; proper landmark roles
Descriptive anchor text	Target keywords; avoid "Click here"
Text links	Prefer text over images; crawlers need readable links
Initial render	All nav HTML in first paint; no JS-only menus for critical links. See rendering-strategies
Visible links	Prefer visible over hidden; helps crawlers understand structure

Crawlability

• Sub-menus: Ensure HTML is in DOM (e.g., CSS-hidden, not JS-injected)
• Footer nav: Include secondary links
• Breadcrumbs: See breadcrumb-generator for implementation

UX Guidelines

Visibility & Location

• Desktop: Visible nav; avoid hiding behind hamburger when space allows
• Expected placement: Primary nav in header; footer nav at bottom
• Current location: Indicate active page/section in menu

Accessibility

Requirement	Practice
Labels	Clear, intuitive wording
Contrast	4.5:1 for link text
Touch targets	>=44x44px; adequate spacing
Keyboard	Full keyboard navigation; focus visible
Screen readers	Proper ARIA; skip links for long menus

Design

• Simple, clear; avoid covering entire screen with open menus on desktop
• Consistent across pages
• Mobile: Hamburger acceptable; ensure menu is usable when open

Output Format

• Structure (primary items, sub-items)
• Anchor text suggestions
• HTML/ARIA notes
• SEO checklist
• Accessibility checklist

Related Skills

• website-structure: Plan structure and nav hierarchy; nav reflects planned sections
• xml-sitemap: Nav should reflect discoverable pages
• internal-links: Nav is primary internal linking
• site-crawlability: Nav affects crawl paths
• category-page-generator: Category hierarchy in nav
• footer-generator: Footer nav complements header nav
• logo-generator: Logo typically sits in header with nav
• breadcrumb-generator: Breadcrumb navigation; BreadcrumbList schema
• rendering-strategies: Nav in first paint; no JS-only menus