On setting up a clear and good navigation bar for your Substack website - “Don’t use confusing language. Speak to the thing. Talk it out as if you were speaking to someone in real life. Write it down like I did, and you’ll get there in the end.”

NB - the screen sticks in the first section so maybe scroll past as I get it working after that!

Ai summary for Substack navigation bar thanks Claude

Substack Expert Claire Venus runs a live Substack tutorial on the new navigation bar dropdown feature, but the real teaching is strategic — think carefully about who you’re designing your nav for before touching any settings.

Two audiences, two priorities:

* New visitors → keep it simple, guide them to subscribe

* Existing paid members → give them easy access to what they’ve paid for

She live-edits her own Substack nav bar, debates naming options out loud, wrestles with screen-sharing tech, and lands on the same advice she started with: write it out on paper first, use plain language, and don’t overwhelm people with too many choices.

Key quote:

“Think about your ideal reader, who you want to subscribe — speak to that person first.”

SEO reminder: your nav bar label names double as search signals. “Substack tips,” “make money on Substack,” “Substack strategy” — the plain, specific language Claire kept reaching for is exactly what search engines reward too. Don’t get too creative with the labels!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sparkleon.substack.com/subscribe