How much does the placement of webpage elements affect the success of a site? Is it best to put objects like the search field exactly where users expect them?
Like many usability questions, the answer is “it depends.” At first glance it would seem to matter a great deal: users often become frustrated when they can’t find a link or tool that they need, and placing such elements in unexpected places certainly makes them harder to find. Furthermore, certain placements seem to be more common than others, especially among e-commerce websites, and there have been multiple attempts to produce definitive guidelines on this topic.
But what does the research say?
Several years ago an academic paper described an experiment in which users identified the areas of an e-commerce page where they would expect to see specific web objects, such as a shopping cart or login link. The experiment showed that there was a strong consensus among users for the expected placement of said objects, and hypothesized that placing elements exactly in these “standard locations” would give a site a competitive advantage.
To test the hypothesis, a second study was performed in which users were asked to shop in a variety of sites, some of which had elements in the expected locations and some which didn’t. Interestingly, object placement did not seem to greatly affect the success of the tested websites, and users found websites that didn’t use standard placements “as easy, fun, and professional as those that did”.
In short, it seems that placing web elements in expected locations is not the driving force behind a site’s success, and users may be willing to explore somewhat in order to find what they need. Nonetheless, it is probable that none of the sites in the study had completely unreasonable placements, and it is not a bad strategy to just follow the general web trends and practices when designing a site. Usability-wise, your efforts might be better spent nailing down the basics: ensuring a smooth flow through the website and supporting users with the content they need.
Furthermore, the best way to determine what works best for your particular design is to test different variations and compare the results. What elements get the most clicks, and how does the data change when you alter their locations? With a little experimentation and iteration, you may soon come up with a layout that yields better results than following an existing guide.