This guide is for small-business owners whose site now has more pages than the original navigation was built to handle. I will keep the examples centered on three common cases: a local service business, a restaurant, and an independent consultant or studio. The decision is simple but easy to get wrong: should the next article, menu page, case study, service page, or landing page become a main-menu item, live inside a hub, use a filter, or be reached through internal links?
Quick decision framework:
- Main menu: primary choices a new visitor needs to make: what you sell, where you serve, why they should trust you, and how to act.
- Hub: a grouped starting page for one topic, audience, service line, or location set.
- Filters: narrowing tools for a large library of similar items, not a substitute for structure.
- Internal links: the next best step from the page someone is already reading.
A growing content library makes a business website more useful only when visitors can still find the right path. A restaurant may add private dining, catering, seasonal menus, gift cards, events, press, and location pages. A local service company may add services, city pages, before-and-after galleries, reviews, financing, and emergency pages. A consultant or studio may add service pages, client stories, pricing guidance, templates, and a blog. Without structure, the site starts asking visitors to do the sorting work.
How Many Items Should Be in the Main Menu?
Keep the main navigation to the few decisions a new visitor is most likely to make. For most first websites and rebuilds, use 5 to 7 top-level items as a working cap: Home, Services or Menu, Work or Case Studies, Resources, About, Contact, and one primary action such as Book, Order, Call, or Sign Up. If the header needs two rows to fit ordinary labels on a phone, the menu is already doing too much.
Builder behavior makes this discipline important. Wix documents that pages in the Site Menu section appear in the site menu unless you hide them, and hidden pages can still appear in search engines unless you take separate indexing steps.[1] Squarespace documents that Not linked pages are hidden from navigation menus but are public by default and may still be indexed.[2] In plain English: hiding a page from the menu is not the same thing as making a page private, and adding a page is not the same thing as earning a main-menu slot.
- Services, Menu, or Products: use this for revenue pages, such as emergency plumbing, private dining, advisory packages, portrait sessions, or online ordering.
- Pricing or Plans: use this only when price is a common pre-sale question; otherwise link pricing from service pages, quote pages, and FAQs.
- Resources: use this when you have at least 8 to 12 useful articles, guides, checklists, menus, FAQs, or downloads that would be weak as separate header items.
- Proof: use Case Studies, Reviews, Portfolio, or Before and After instead of a vague label like Results.
- Contact or Booking: give the highest-intent action a stable place in the header, especially for local services, restaurants, studios, and appointment businesses.
Use a simple test before adding any top-level item: if the page does not help a new visitor choose what you sell, trust you, find a location, compare cost, or take action, it belongs somewhere else.
When Should You Create a Hub?
A hub is a grouped starting page. It does more than list links: it explains where to start, what to read next, and which page moves the visitor closer to a decision. The first hub usually becomes useful when one theme has 6 or more related pages, or when a blog archive has 20 or more posts and newest-first order no longer matches how customers ask questions.
| Hub type | Best for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Service hub | Pages grouped by what the business sells | A local service company groups emergency service, recurring service, inspections, and repairs under Services. |
| Resource hub | Guides, blog posts, downloads, checklists, FAQs | A studio groups planning guides, pricing explainers, timelines, and preparation checklists under Resources. |
| Location hub | Real service areas, neighborhoods, delivery zones, or restaurant locations | A restaurant group links downtown, suburbs, catering zones, parking details, and private dining rooms from one Locations page. |
| Proof hub | Case studies, projects, reviews, or before-and-after work | A remodeler or design studio groups projects by service, budget range, or room type instead of putting every project in the menu. |
Platform features can support this structure without forcing every page into the header. Shopify store menus can include products, collections, webpages, blog posts, customer account pages, and external links; for a restaurant selling gift cards or merchandise, a collection can act as the hub.[3] WordPress posts can be grouped with Categories, and Categories can have parent categories, which makes them useful for broad hub structure when a content library starts to outgrow a plain archive.[4]
A Real Navigation Cleanup Example
In a recent DDV page inventory for a local-service site, the public library had 42 pages: 9 services, 14 articles, 8 city pages, 6 FAQ pages, 3 offer pages, and 2 proof pages. The old header exposed 14 choices across the main menu and dropdowns. The cleanup kept the useful pages, but changed the navigation outcome: 6 top-level items, 3 hubs, and 18 older pages linked forward to a quote, booking, or service page.
| Before | After | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 14 visible header choices | 6 top-level items | Visitors could see the main choices before opening a dropdown. |
| Blog archive only | Resources hub with service-specific guide sections | Guides matched customer intent instead of publish date. |
| Every city page in a dropdown | One Service Areas hub with the strongest locations linked first | The header stayed usable on mobile. |
| FAQ pages isolated | FAQs linked from matching service pages | Questions appeared near the buying decision. |
| Offer pages in the main menu | Offers linked from quote and booking pages | Discount-seeking visitors still found them without distracting first-time visitors. |
What Should Navigation Labels Say?
Navigation labels should use the words customers already use in search, calls, texts, and reviews. A restaurant should use Menu, Reservations, Private Dining, and Gift Cards. A local service business should use Services, Service Areas, Projects, and Reviews. A consultant or studio should use Work, Services, About, and Contact. Internal names, package nicknames, and clever slogans can sit on the page itself, not in the header.
- Use Services when the visitor is comparing what you do, such as repair, maintenance, design, consulting, or event work.
- Use Pricing only when a visitor can make a real price comparison from the page, even if the page gives ranges, minimums, or package logic instead of fixed prices.
- Use Case Studies, Portfolio, Reviews, or Before and After for proof; choose the label that matches the proof format.
- Use Resources, Guides, or Learning Center for education; choose Blog only if the archive itself is still a useful entry point.
- Avoid labels like Solutions, Explore, Experience, and Insights unless customers use those words when asking for the thing.
Google’s link guidance applies here too. Its link best practices say anchor text should be descriptive, concise, and relevant to the page it links to.[5] If Click here, Learn more, or Our process would make no sense when read by itself, rename the link before you redesign the menu.
When Do Filters Help?
Filters help when visitors need to narrow a large group of similar items. They are usually premature on a 6-post blog and useful on a 30-item portfolio, 40-resource learning center, 50-product catalog, or restaurant events archive with recurring categories. Add filters when a visitor would otherwise scan more than 2 screenfuls of similar cards to find the right item.
| Filter | Use it when | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Topic | Articles answer different customer questions | Booking, menu planning, maintenance, pricing, local visibility |
| Location | Local pages matter for real service areas | Downtown, Northside, delivery zones, nearby towns, private event rooms |
| Service | Proof or guides connect to revenue pages | Emergency repair, private dining, recurring service, brand photography |
| Content type | The library mixes formats | Guide, checklist, case study, video, menu, FAQ |
| Stage | Beginners and ready-to-buy visitors need different pages | Planning, comparing, booking, maintaining, upgrading |
Do not use filters to hide weak structure. If every page needs three filters before it makes sense, first reduce duplicate categories, merge thin pages, and write hub introductions that explain the choices.
How Should Internal Links Support the Menu?
Navigation is not only the top menu. Internal links connect the visitor’s current question to the next useful step. Google recommends making sure every page you care about has a link from at least one other page on your site, and there is no magic ideal number of links for a page.[5] For a growing site, start by making sure each revenue page, proof page, and booking page is linked from at least 3 relevant places: the hub, one related article, and one high-intent page.
| Link path | Why it helps | Example anchor text |
|---|---|---|
| Article to service page | Moves a problem-aware visitor toward an offer | monthly maintenance plan |
| Service page to proof page | Adds trust near the decision point | kitchen remodel before-and-after projects |
| Case study to booking CTA | Turns proof into a next step | request a remodeling estimate |
| Old guide to new resource | Keeps evergreen content useful | updated website launch checklist |
| Resource hub to priority content | Gives new visitors a recommended start | start with the first website guide |
| Location page to service page | Connects local intent to a real offer | book private dining downtown |
How Often Should You Review Navigation?
Navigation updates should come from behavior, not from a menu debate. Review the top navigation every quarter, review hubs every time you add 5 related pages, and review internal links after publishing any new revenue page, case study, location page, menu change, or offer. A 30-minute monthly pass is enough for many sites: find the newest priority page, add 3 to 5 links to it from related older pages, and remove one stale or duplicate link.
- Quarterly: check whether the 5 to 7 top-level items still match the main buying decisions.
- After 5 related posts: decide whether the topic needs a hub section instead of another blog category.
- After a new service page: link to it from the services hub, one proof page, one FAQ, and one related article.
- After a new case study: link it from the matching service page and from the proof hub.
- After a menu, booking, or location change: check the header, footer, mobile menu, location hub, and any booking buttons.
- After deleting or merging a page: replace old internal links and redirect the old URL when the platform supports redirects.
Search and analytics still matter, but use them for navigation questions. If visitors repeatedly search pricing, hours, menu, parking, service area, or portfolio, consider a clearer label, a hub section, or a stronger internal link before adding another header item. If an old guide still brings visitors every month, link it to the best current service, booking, or resource page.
Should You Add Breadcrumbs?
Breadcrumbs are worth adding once pages sit inside real groups. Google Search Central’s breadcrumb documentation says a breadcrumb trail shows a page’s position in the site hierarchy and may help users understand and explore the site.[6] For a growing library, breadcrumbs are most useful on guides, case studies, product collections, service-area pages, and multi-level resource hubs.
The Simple Rule
Use this decision rule tomorrow: top-level menu items are for primary buying decisions; hubs are for groups with 6 or more related pages; filters are for libraries where scanning takes more than 2 screenfuls; internal links are for the next best step from the page the visitor is already reading. If a new page does not pass one of those tests, do not put it in the header.
When the library grows, the best navigation is usually less visible, not more visible: fewer header items, stronger hubs, clearer labels, cleaner filters, descriptive internal links, and a review rhythm tied to publishing. That structure lets visitors move from question to proof to action without turning the main menu into a site map.
Next step: If you are replacing an outdated site instead of reorganizing one by hand, Deep Digital Ventures WebsiteBuilder can create a starting site from a plain-language business description. After that, use the framework above to decide what belongs in the header, a hub, a filter, or an internal link path.
FAQ
Should I use a dropdown or a hub?
Use a dropdown when the group is small and obvious, such as Services with 3 to 5 pages. Use a hub when the group needs explanation, prioritization, filters, proof, or links from articles and case studies.
Should every service area or article category appear in the menu?
No. Put a location, service area, or category in the menu only if it helps visitors make a buying or trust decision. Most belong in a hub, footer, filter, or contextual link from a related page.
Do hidden or unlinked pages stay out of search engines?
Not automatically. Wix and Squarespace both document cases where pages hidden from navigation can still be public or indexable unless separate privacy or indexing controls are used.[1][2]
Sources
- Wix Help Center: Hiding and unhiding a page from your site menu. https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-editor-hiding-and-unhiding-a-page-from-your-site-menu
- Squarespace Help Center: The Not linked section and public page behavior. https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025899552-The-Not-linked-section
- Shopify Help Center: Understanding store navigation, menus, and links. https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/menus-and-links/understanding-navigation
- WordPress.org Documentation: Posts Categories screen and parent categories. https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/posts-categories-screen/
- Google Search Central: Link best practices for crawlable links and anchor text. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/links-crawlable
- Google Search Central: Breadcrumb structured data and site hierarchy. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/breadcrumb