We all like a bit of novelty. Many like the buzz of being different. And if that rings true for you, and you want your website to stand out and be different from your competitors, fantastic. Fill your boots.

But one area where you need a bit of conformity is in your navigation.

There’s a simple reason for this – user experience. You want your visitor to find their way around your site easily. And for this to be easy, your navigation needs to be where your visitor expects it: links across the top, or down the lefthand side.

Keep your navigation as simple as possible. If you have many pages, review your visitor stats (you have got Google Analytics installed, right?). If there are any pages with no views, then either no one is interested in that page’s content, or your navigation is too complicated. Time for a rethink

And if you have a page structure that’s more than two deep, then make sure you’ve got breadcrumbs to help people find their way back.