Most business owners are too close to their own products and services. It is tempting to include every detail about the company, and every single service you offer in great lengths. However, by squeezing all that information onto the website, you’re creating more work for your customers. Everybody’s busy, so make it easy for them.
The reason that clean and simple websites are considered more appealing is partly that they don’t require the eyes and brain to physically work as hard to decode, store and process the information.
The internet has changed. The people who used websites have changed. Nowadays people don’t read websites anymore, they skim them! Always keep that in mind.
Think about meeting someone at an event, if you barrage them with an excessive amount of information about yourself, they will disengage. (I will use Larry David often to illustrate my points, his face is very expressive.)
For example…
Let’s say you run a catering company specialising in cookies. When a customer visits your website, think of this as them meeting you for the first time. Why open with “Hello, we’re The Cookie Caterers Company. We use only the best ingredients sourced from local producers. We hand deliver the best tasting cookies and we bake the cookies on the day they are served, that’s guaranteed freshness. We offer chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate chip cookies and many more.” when you can simply say “The freshest, best tasting cookies baked and catered on the day of your next event.”
Of course, I’m not saying that you should have 5 words on your website. As users scroll and visit other pages on your website you can explain in further detail, I’m talking about that first impression, the first thing the user sees.
The next time you look at your website, look at your content, think of these things. Could two long paragraphs become dot points? Could some text even become an image? These things will go a long way in making life easier for your customers.
