A business starts with a fairly simple website. Then a new service gets added. Someone wants an announcement on the homepage. An old offer stays up because nobody remembers to remove it. Another paragraph gets added because it “might be useful”.
A few years later, the website is full of information.
The problem is, the person visiting it still can’t find what they’re looking for.
One of the things I often look at when working on a website is not just what is missing, but what doesn’t need to be there in the first place.
Because sometimes the best improvement you can make to a website is simply removing things.
Outdated information
This is one of the easiest things to fix. If an offer has ended, an event has passed, or a service is no longer available, it shouldn’t still be sitting on your website.
Outdated content can make a website feel neglected, even if everything else looks great. And if someone finds an old page through Google, they could be getting the wrong impression before they’ve even contacted you.
Your website doesn’t need to document everything your business has ever done.
It needs to tell people what they need to know now.
Huge blocks of text
Nobody wants to arrive on a website and be confronted with a page of text that looks like a small novel.
There might be plenty of useful information in there, but if it’s difficult to read, most people won’t get far enough to find it.
Good website content isn’t about saying absolutely everything. It’s about making the important information easy to find.
Break things up. Use headings. Keep paragraphs short. Get to the point.
And if something can be said in one sentence instead of three paragraphs, say it in one sentence.
Sliders with five different messages
Homepage sliders can look good. But just because something moves doesn’t mean it’s helping.
If your homepage has five slides promoting five different things, you’ve potentially got five competing messages fighting for attention.
What do you actually want someone to do?
Book? Enquire? Visit a particular page? Find out more?
One clear message with one obvious next step will do a better job than a rotating collection of banners.
Jargon
You know your business inside out. Your customers probably don’t. It’s very easy to use terminology that makes perfect sense to you because you use it every day. But if someone visiting your website doesn’t understand it, it isn’t doing its job.
Your website should be written for the person reading it, not the person who works in the business.
If there is a simpler way of saying something, use it.
Information that nobody actually needs
This is where things can get a little ruthless.
Ask yourself:
Does the customer actually need to know this?
Not “Would it be nice for them to know?” or “We’ve always had this on the website.”
Actually, do they need it to make a decision or take the next step? If the answer is no, it might not deserve a place on the page.
Too many options
More choice isn’t always better.
If your navigation has loads of menu items, your homepage has multiple calls to action and every section is pointing visitors in a different direction, people can quickly lose track of what they’re supposed to do.
A good website should make things easier.
It should help someone understand:
- What do you do?
- Is it relevant to me?
- Why should I choose you?
- What do I do next?
The clearer those answers are, the better.
Talking too much about yourself
Of course your website needs to explain who you are and what you do.
But ultimately, your customer isn’t visiting because they want to read your company history.
They’re visiting because they have a question, a problem or something they want to buy or book.
So instead of filling the homepage with “We are a leading provider of…”, think about what your customer actually wants to know.
- Can they find the service they’re looking for?
- Can they understand what you offer?
- Can they see how to contact you?
- Can they make a booking or enquiry without having to hunt for the button?
That’s what matters.
A website doesn’t need everything. It needs the right things.
Websites naturally grow and change as businesses do. That’s completely normal.
The problem comes when nothing gets removed. So before adding another section, another banner or another paragraph to your website, ask yourself: Does this actually help the person visiting?
If it doesn’t, maybe you don’t need to add anything. Maybe you just need to take something away.
