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Where Should You Place Your Logo on Your Homepage? Science Gives the Answer
Marc Schenker
September 2, 2021 · 5 min read
Left-aligned or Centered—What Does the Research Say?
If we just go by perception, you’ll probably find an equal number of people who believe a logo on the left side of a page is just as helpful to UX as one in the center. That’s why we’re going to settle this once and for all by turning to the research. For an answer on this, we turn to UX and design experts at the Nielsen Norman Group. In a recent study, they concluded without a shadow of a doubt that centered logos hurt site navigation. Not that they impede navigation a bit…or suggest to designers that they should reconsider logo placement…but that they all-out degraded usability and navigation! The study author recommends that all logos on a site should lean left. This may come as a surprise to some, as placing anything in the center of a page—you’d think, anyway—would make it easier to see. After all, it’s right there, in the middle, staring you in the face. However, consider two, contrary reasons: 1) We consistently read from left to right (at least in the west and parts of Asia) 2) Traditionally, logos have always been positioned on the left-hand side of pages Taking these into consideration, it’s no surprise that the study found that participants had much less success getting back to the homepage in just one click if the logo was in the center of a page.What This Means for Design
Designers should be placing logos on the left-hand side of a page. This goes for all pages. If you don’t, users will have serious problems getting back to the homepage and essentially finding their way back to the starting point of the site. That makes for horrendous UX. The rule of thumb in web design is to always design with the user’s sensibilities in mind before anything else, so even something as seemingly insignificant as a logo can have serious repercussions on how the design of a site impacts usability. And when users have a hard time finding their way around a site, bad things usually happen, such as:- Users getting frustrated
- Users leaving your site
- Your site suffering a higher bounce rate
- Worse SEO rankings
Examples of Sites That Do It Right With Left-Aligned Logos
Now that I’ve talked about the absolute importance of left-leaning logos, we can’t be remiss and fail to spotlight sites that do it right. In no particular order, here are sites that nail it when it comes to correct logo placement:- Toys R Us – This famous retailer of toys features a logo that’s very much left of center on the homepage and other pages.
- Facebook – Everyone’s favorite social network positions its own logo clearly to the left of the midway point on its homepage.
- Infiniti – Nissan’s luxury vehicle division places its logo way to the very left of the page, in a very striking fashion.
- Walmart – Retail giant Walmart’s logo is comfortably placed on the left-hand side of the homepage.
- Verizon Wireless – Telecom company Verizon Wireless also features its logo to the left of center on its homepage.
Buy Logo Bundles on Creative Market
Our Creative Market marketplace is home to many talented designers who sell all kinds of logo bundles, fonts, templates and more. If this UX study’s discovery that logos work best on the left side of a page has inspired you at all, you may want to browse our selections. In the meantime, check out these talented designers and their logo products:- Design District – A great shop that sells everything from logo bundles and kits to vintage logos and branding mockups.
- LogoLabs – This fine shop sells individual logos that you can use for your own branding, as well as logo textures. A complete logo shop.
- AgataCreate – Agata features numerous logos, logo mockups, and typography logos in her fine shop.
- TSV Creative – This shop features a medley of logo designs along with various scripts and illustrations.
- Zeppelin Graphics – Featuring logo creation kits and logo bundles galore, Zeppelin Graphics is a fine shop.
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About the Author
Marc Schenker
Marc is a copywriter and marketer who runs The Glorious Company, a marketing agency. An expert in business and marketing, he helps businesses and companies of all sizes get the most bang for their ad bucks.
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