Content is King, But don’t forget Usability
Content is absolutely KING when it comes to having a successful website. But you can go overboard. Too much content can result in poor website usability. That is not to say you cannot overcome some of the issues caused by too much content by grouping the content effectively, however even organizing all that content can only get you so far before you have completely lost your user.
So what do I mean by having too much content? Here is a fictional example company’s website based on a real example I have dealt with in my career.
Company Name: Joe Web’s Everything Store
Products/Services: Joe Webs Candy (Home Made Candy Sales), Joe Webs Fabrics (Upholstery and Sewing Supplies), Joe Webs Landscaping (Lawn and Garden), Joe Webs Comics (Comic Books Store).
Joe has a retail store which houses all of the above, a real mix of unrelated products and services. His prime money maker is the landscaping business, but does all of the other businesses to keep a steady stream of income coming in year round. He wants to finally take the plunge and get an online presence. He contacts a reputable company with a solid custom website design portfolio.
Despite the advice of the company he is working with, he is absolutely wanting to feature all of the businesses on the home page. Each business then goes into sub-page after sub-page featuring every possible photo and piece of literature that he has at his disposal.
In the end a website exist that looks like a cross between a coming soon/directory site and some sort of spam site. No direction whatsoever, if you were to stumble across the site you would have no idea what the site was for. And if you are like most users, you would not bother looking around to figure it out.
So where did Joe Web fail? He has heard that content is what people want. Content is what helps you rank highly on Google.
Well he forgot about K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid. Any website, whether business or personal, should have a central theme or focus. Something that when a new user arrives allows them to clue in immediately as to what the website is about and what it is trying to portray.
What should Joe Web have done instead? His core business is the landscaping business, this is his money maker. The website should focus almost entirely on this and be the one focal point on the home page and the sub-pages. Within his about us section would be the ideal place to mention the other services and products he is also involved in if it is absolutely necessary to even talk about them. If they are crucial to also be on the web and to have more real-estate then a mention on the about us section, then they should have their own separate websites. Going with the a bloated/all-inclusive site just kills the entire site and renders all sections ineffective, you are wasting your money.
