What would be considered the best menu bar placement? I have been using a left side menu bar since that seems standard, is that what most of you are using? What are your thoughts on a right side menu? Thanks
I use a left side menu and save the right side for ads because people read left to right and when they are done reading most likely they read the ad last. But you can also do menu and ads on the right side also. It varies on the site for me.
I usually have a "global" static menu the runs horizontal across the top and a "sub-menu" that runs down the left side. The "global" menu has links to the main areas of the site and the "sub-menu" has links to areas within main area you are already within.
I used a side menu for a couple of years since my pages expanded across the page. But I'm very glad that I narrowed my pages last winter and placed the menu across the top.
if you only have a few menu choices (5-10) I would recommend using a top menu bar, otherwise I would use a left-side menu bar (with sub-menus if need by). The only time I see right-side menu bars are on blogs. It seems to be the de-facto standard these days with blogs that you *have* to have a right-menu bar. I personally dislike it. Maybe it's a money-making thing. If you have your menu bar on the right, it may lead to better ad placement, therefore better click-through rates, therefore more money. I've seen it a lot on shareware sites recently as well. Look at AcidFiles.com for instance, I think he purposely places his menu bar on the right just so that more people will click on his Adsense. It makes it more "centered". I don't know, maybe it's just me