The guideline
Write each navigation label so it is a true umbrella term for everything nested under it — a visitor should be able to predict, before hovering or tapping, what a label like "Shoes" or "Support" actually contains, and every item that appears under it should belong there. Prefer the conventional term a competitor or the user's own vocabulary would use over an internal or creative name; when a category genuinely has no common name, add a short clarifying subtitle rather than leaving the label ambiguous. Keep promotional or editorial links (banners, "Explore", seasonal campaigns) out of the structural category taxonomy — give them their own labelled section instead of diluting a category's expected contents.
Common failures
- The main navigation menu titles do not accurately reflect the content that appears beneath them, causing users to land on unexpected pages or see misaligned subcategories when they hover or tap.
Where it applies
Pages
Disciplines
Devices
Why it matters, how to fix it, and the research behind it
Rubric's full guide adds the reasoning, the fix and the sources for this check, and checks your client's pages against it and hundreds of others. Findings come back worst first.