Your Company Website: Stop Majoring in the Minors

When I was a kid, I would often talk to my grandma about my problems. One of her favorite lines of advice was, “Don’t major in the minors.” In her own way, she was telling me to get my priorities straight. In the realm of digital marketing and website design, there are frequent missteps that businesses and organizations often make by majoring in the minors. They could benefit by listening to my grandma’s advice. Let’s take a look at some of those misguided majors and then explore what really matters. 

The Misguided Majors

Words: The Literary Trap
We invest a lot of our time, energy and passion into our businesses and organizations. So, naturally, we want to share everything about them at every opportunity. This is especially true when creating website content. Websites seem to be a perfect place to show off our creative abilities and passions. We start to believe that more is better and lots of high-quality writing equates to effective communication. However, this often translates into overly verbose descriptions, long blocks of text and a frustrating user experience. While it’s important to convey our enthusiasm and expertise, it’s equally crucial to remember that simplicity and clarity are key to effective communication.

Beautiful Design: The Aesthetic Fallacy
This is a difficult topic in website design because it represents the classic struggle between form and function. As I’m sure we can all admit, we love beautiful websites. So, it is natural to assume that the success of a website hinges on its visual appeal – its form. However, this is only part of the story. We also get frustrated using websites that don’t help us solve a problem or are difficult to navigate – its function. We sometimes need to be reminded that a beautiful site doesn’t guarantee user engagement. In essence, while beautiful design can grab attention, lasting success in website design hinges on seamlessly integrating aesthetics with functionality to meet users’ needs effectively.

Cleverness: The Misplaced Priority
In the world of website design, it’s easy to get caught up in the allure of our own brilliance. We want to impress our visitors, often forgetting the primary goal: ensuring a seamless user experience. Writing clever or cute headlines and other content seems like a good way to gain someone’s attention, but it ultimately results in a bewildering user experience. Users shouldn’t have to solve a riddle to understand how you can help them solve a problem. Our goal should be to prioritize simplicity and clarity over unnecessary, clever complexity.

Refocusing on the True Majors

Straightforwardness, Economy and Clarity
According to a study by The Neilson Group, users typically read only 20% of the words on a webpage, emphasizing the importance of making every word count. Your website’s content should be concise, clear and purpose-driven. Every word should focus on meeting the needs of your users rather than showcasing vocabulary or industry jargon. Users seek information, solutions, or products when visiting your site and prefer straightforward, helpful content over long blocks of beautiful prose and clever but unclear content.

Quality Photos With a Purpose
We’ve all heard the adage: A photo is worth a thousand words. However, more photos do not necessarily mean more communication. Consider each website image as a crucial element in the cohesive story you’re guiding your users through. If you can’t articulate a specific purpose for using an image – don’t use it. Utilize the highest-quality images that are relevant and convey your message. Select images that reflect diversity and resonate with your user demographic. Users typically have little patience for long website loading times, so it’s essential to optimize image files to minimize their size while preserving quality. This can be accomplished with free online services like Sqoosh.   

User-Driven Design
Company websites exist solely for your users, who are the heroes of your website story, according to Donald Miller of Storybrand Marketing. The primary purpose of your site is to guide users in discovering how your company can address their needs. This is the foundation of an effective website and involves understanding your audience’s needs, preferences and behaviors. Here are some examples: 

• Most of your visitors are on a mobile device. Prioritizing mobile-first design and ensuring a seamless user journey across all screen sizes is no longer optional, but a necessity. 
• Some users have disabilities that prevent them from navigating a typical website. Ensuring accessibility for all users through intentional design is critical in providing an effective online experience for all users. 
• Users have specific problems they want to solve and exhibit common browsing habits when trying to find answers. Website design and content that’s informed by user-centered data and analytics will always outperform one based solely on our own personal opinions. 

In the realm of digital marketing and website design, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters amidst the heat of the creative process. Just like my grandma used to say, “Don’t major in the minors,” we need to refocus on the essentials. It’s time to stop fixating on the superficial and refocus on what truly drives success: clear content, purpose-driven imagery, user-driven design and optimized performance. By prioritizing these key elements, we can create websites that we love and also effectively serve the needs of our users.

Need help implementing these tips and creating a website with major success? Contact us.