If you use the Internet on a regular basis, then you must have encountered the fixed header bar before. It’s a facet of website design that people are quite familiar with because of Facebook. This social networking site is quite popular all around the world! In any case, if you use Facebook then you’ve probably noticed just how useful the fixed header bar is. It doesn’t matter how far you scroll down the page, the header bar is still visible and you can click on your profile and account settings any time you want.

Nowadays many website design professionals are incorporating this particular UI element into the web pages they create. Here are the most compelling reasons why:

It simplifies the navigation. Even nonprofessionals are aware that navigation is one of the most crucial components of website design. It has to be easily accessed and used by visitors so that they can go to the page they want to go as quickly as possible. Make the navigation too complicated or too difficult to find, and visitors will simply exit the tab and then find another website to provide what they want.

With the fixed header bar, going to other pages on the website is easier. There will be no need to look all over the page or scroll back up to the top to find the navigational links. In web design professionals who use fixed header bars know that simplicity is key these days, and that’s why fixed header bars are becoming a fixture.

It’s much faster. Everyone’s in a hurry these days and visitors don’t like wasting even a few seconds rolling the scroll wheel or dragging the scroll bar up. Imagine that your word processor program is your website, and you’re editing a long document. If you were on the 100th page, would you like it if you have to scroll back to page 1 just to italicize a particular phrase? No, you wouldn’t, and that’s how many people feel about not having a fixed header bar.

It makes your brand more memorable. Fixed header bars also have brand building benefits. The header often contains your brand name and logo, and keeping them on the screen at all times keeps your visitors’ attention on them. The longer the brand name and logo is displayed on the monitor, the longer your brand will stay on the mind of your visitors.

You have to keep in mind how your site will look on different screen sizes. You may need to tweak the CSS coding to view your site properly in tablets and smartphones. Failure to do so could result in your fixed header bar taking up the whole screen—which pretty much defeats the purpose of providing the best user experience for your visitors. This is known as responsive web design, and is the modern trend today. However, that web design topic is for another writing itself!