It's Time to Let These Website Features Go - 4 Things That Need to Be Phased Off Your Website
By Andy Tretow - eGuide Content Marketing Manager
This year, I have talked a lot about how you can add this or that to your website to bring it up to speed with the times, but that is only half the battle. The other half is to do a little bit of spring cleaning to get your site “show ready” for your current and hopefully new customers. This process will help give your website a little bit more of a minimalist look that is considered cutting-edge and visually appealing. Thankfully a lot of these are fairly easy to complete. Still, it will take a little bit of prep on the front end before you really dig in. Here are the top 4 things that need to be phased off your website yesterday.
1. Complicated Navigation Menus:
The old saying goes, “You only get one chance at making a first impression” when it comes to meeting someone. Well, the same goes for someone viewing your website. One of the first things people do when looking at a new website is to “page through” the navigation menu to review what pages are on the site. If the menu is lengthy, cluttered, or has dropdowns on top of dropdowns, consumers are more than likely to get overwhelmed and maybe even leave your site altogether. A user-friendly navigation menu ensures a smooth browsing experience and helps visitors navigate your website effortlessly.
2. Excessive Clutter
The “spring cleaning” metaphor really rings true when it comes to simplifying your website layout. With every industry having more and more competitors these days, small details like a busy or overcrowded website can be the difference in someone choosing you or someone else. So what is our advice? Keep things simple: essential information on the site and pair down all of the extras that could either be spaced out on a different page or could be eliminated altogether. A simple and minimalistic one almost always looks better on mobile devices, which is the direction web browsing is heading.
3. Invasive (and Annoying) Pop-ups
For a time, website pop-ups were a lot like beepers; you couldn’t go more than a few minutes without seeing one, but if you saw one today, it just seemed out of place, and honestly would be a bit irritating. The message we used to put in a pop-up is still relevant, but there are places we can now put that. For example, if a store is having a sale, it was a foregone conclusion that there would be a website pop-up, but that information now often lives in the banner (or ticker) at the top of the page to alert customers of the sale. You are still able to keep customers informed without interfering with their browsing experience. Any disruption in the scrolling of your website is seen as a turnoff and just gives clients another reason to leave.
4. Non-Responsive Design
Yes, you might be thinking to yourself, “Hasn’t he written about this before?” Yes, I have, but it is so important that it bears repeating over and over again. If your website has a nonresponsive design, the time to make the upgrade or conversion is yesterday. Mobile website browsing is quickly becoming the preferred method of “surfing the web,” and your website will soon be “blackballed” for not being up to date and alienating a large number of your clientele.
Conclusion
Starting to phase out outdated or ineffective elements from your website is a necessary step in maintaining a modern and minimalistic website. By removing outdated content, decluttering your design, eliminating invasive pop-ups, and embracing responsive design, you can create a user-friendly, visually appealing, and up-to-date website. Have questions or need a little help getting things a little uncluttered? Don’t hesitate to reach out, we would love to help you!
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