I’ve been cleaning up my own website!

We all influence each other. I had a client a couple days ago reviewing websites for her hair salon. Part of the process is reviewing websites from other businesses in the same industry (and also other sites).  Looking for specifics. Identifying what she liked and why. “That’s boring!” she stated. Pretty photo but no application to the actual business. Fresh eyes. Questions. Why do you bother with that? What will be the response of a visitor to the site? What are they looking for? Will they be bored and gone? When I started out creating websites many years ago now, I was entranced by trying things out. Pictures flipping. Things sliding. Wow. Wanted to try everything. But I realized a while ago that just because you can do something online, does not mean you should. Applies to expressing opinions online. But also applies to extras. Bells and whistles, things you think are pretty that don’t apply. Someone asked me the other day if music could start playing immediately when someone arrived at their website.  It can be done. But that is a BIG NO. People don’t want it. Too intrusive. If someone wants to hear something played, let them click the button. They are coming to you. Let them find what they are looking for easily without being interrupted. Take a close look at your website. Is that something people click on? Or is it something people pass right over? Is there a good reason to have it. Do you like offers to opt-in that fly over the page? Maybe it works. But if it isn’t, take it down. If you need a pair of fresh eyes, let me know. It’s worth the time invested. And yes, I am going through and cleaning out my own website…purging what doesn’t provide value. And getting stronger on the parts that do!