A website isn’t a patchwork quilt
Every now and then I come across a site where it looks like they haven’t really thought about how elements work together; they’ve really just grabbed a whole stack of things they like and chucked it on the site. One of the hardest things for us is to inform clients of what’s appropriate for the best outcome of their website. A combination of the best things from 10 different sites won’t give you the best outcome. A completely fresh, targeted approach is what’s needed.
One of the first questions we ask our clients is: ‘what is it you want to achieve with the website?’. The most common response would be “generate leads”, and this is a perfectly acceptable response. If this is the answer then every little detail we put on the site will be focused on doing just that. If you as the client then decide you want to put information about what you ate for breakfast, or add some fancy animation you liked from another site that doesn’t fit in line with the end goal, we will be very firm with letting you know this.
A serious case of TMI (too much information) is way too common in our industry. Remember the outcome you want to achieve; don’t start putting all the terms and conditions of every sale on the website if people are not buying then and there. Only give them enough information to get them to contact you (if that’s the outcome you wish to achieve). Every case is different, however you need to ensure everything on the website has a purpose, and that purpose directly relates to the outcome of the website.
Most clients come in and say “we like this on this site, and this on this site”. This is great for us to gauge what you like, however we are not going to directly copy these elements onto your website. Every time, we will do something new that achieves you end goal. As a company we Emote Digitalers love pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with the web, and we do this with ALL our clients’ sites. When we do this though, we are constantly working with improving the user’s experience in a clear balance with the end goal.
Next time you want to make a change to your site, think to yourself: ‘is this going to assist with your end goal?’.