Internal department names do not automatically make good navigation labels. Visitors usually do not know how a business is organized, yet they still need to find a service, pricing information or a contact route. Navigation should support that search without requiring prior knowledge of the company.
List the important pages and the question each answers. A machine-maintenance page serves a different task from a spare-parts sales page. Hiding both beneath “Solutions” initially conceals that distinction from unfamiliar visitors.
Use language found in real enquiries
Read a selection of anonymized customer questions and notice recurring terms. If customers say “repairs” while the internal team says “restoration services”, the simpler word may work better in the menu. The aim is not to reproduce every informal expression but to make the destination easier to recognize.
A label should reliably announce its content. “Projects” might mean completed work examples or ongoing partnerships. If that ambiguity matters, a more specific phrase such as “Work examples” may help. Check that the label remains understandable when displayed on a small screen.
Group content around tasks
Put page titles on separate cards and ask someone outside the business to group related items. Ask why they made each choice. Their arrangement is not automatically superior, but it reveals places where internal logic differs from visitor expectations.
Avoid excessive depth when the website contains only a few offers. Each submenu adds another choice. A long, unorganized list can be equally difficult, however. Appropriate depth depends on the content and how clearly the choices differ, not on a universal maximum number of menu items.
Keep contact access and the route back to the homepage consistent. If navigation changes completely between articles, returning visitors have to relearn it. On a bilingual website, the labels need equivalent meanings even when their lengths differ. Literal translation is less important than directing people to the corresponding content.
Test three concrete tasks, such as “Find the conditions for arranging a repair.” Observe the first menu item selected. If it repeatedly sends people in the wrong direction, revise the label or grouping. Questions about personal taste reveal less than the route someone actually chooses.
After making a change, repeat the same task without coaching the tester. Also check that the target page confirms the selected label. A clear menu item followed by an unrelated heading can still make visitors think they have arrived in the wrong place.
