The Art of Doing Less on Websites

by JO MARSICANO

In her essay, The Art of Doing Less, communications consultant Lynn Fraser uses a great term to describe our information overload: data smog. She also distinguishes information from communication.

The best websites I’ve seen have less content on their sites, not more. They are so sure of their brand, so confident of what to communicate, that they do so without apology.

Google is a good example. It begins with a sparse home page. There’s hardly anything there and there doesn’t need to be. People just need to search. When I click further in, say, to Google's Advertising Programs, or their “about” section, it’s still fairly minimal. Just enough structure and content to quickly get you what you want.

It can be tricky, this “less is more” mentality. Organizations demand, and web professionals provide, hyper-dense website content. But do our analytics support all this volume? Do our users really expect it? Or are we just afraid to reduce all the noise for fear of not being heard at all? One utility’s site displays 19 (yes, 19) separate clickable sections on its home page alone.

I suspect organizations struggle with excess volume for the same reason they do everything else. They have too much to do and not enough time to do it. So instead of really planning for how to optimize a smaller volume of content, we throw it all on the site and hope it works. I’ve done it myself and understand the temptation.

It takes courage to say “no” to more content. I’m currently encouraging a website client to live within some volume boundaries, both for brand promotion and better site governance. But to achieve sustainable content limits, we must have a content strategy. That way, we can more easily run proposed content through an already-determined filter before posting it. The filter will require the content to jump through some hoops before it’s posted. Does it support our goals? Does it communicate real value to the user?

Most organizations only do one thing. Law schools educate lawyers. Freight companies move goods. Bowling alleys provide recreation. All their organizational tactics (sales promotions, recruiting techniques, publicity, etc.) simply support the one essential purpose. Perhaps organizations that believe they do many things instead of just one are more likely to overload their website.

What is the one thing your organization does? Once you answer that, you can make all your website content serve that one purpose and more easily drop the excess weight. In so doing, you’ll be more likely to achieve the art of doing less.

Upcoming Post: Let’s switch from stock to emotionally rich photos

Three qualities of good web content

by JO MARSICANO

What makes divine website content? A few well-chosen qualities.

Good website content must:

1) Have adequate substance

2) Be free of excess volume

3) Please the website user


Let's start with substance. In her book, Content Strategy for the Web, Kristina Halvorson says all content must either support a key business objective or support a user/customer in completing a task. No one piece of content has the right to be published. Content must earn its way onto the site.

Carmichael Lynch Spong, a major PR firm, has a nice section on client success stories. The overall site needs some branding and design refinements, but the success story content is effective. It communicates Carmichael Lynch Spong's role in advancing its clients' objectives. Anyone seeking a large PR agency could read this section and learn more about the agency's key competencies.

Keep it lean. On websites, substance often means less volume, not more. Target Commercial Interiors does a beautiful job on its home page. A clear tag line surrounded by just six words and descriptive photos communicate the product in just seconds. We are directed to look just where we need to and are rewarded with relevant, compelling information.

Many websites are dense with content that distracts and confuses. We seem to equate volume with quality. Our real aim should be relevance and substance. When run through these filters, only the leanest content will make it onto the site.

Please the user. A client of mine drafted some web copy that would have required users to do more work than necessary. Her external links brought users to a site that required them to guess where to look next. They had to search and do more clicks to get to the ultimate page. I found the exact page URL's needed and then replaced the original links with those. Now, when users click on the links, they travel to precisely where the link tells them they'll go. We are supposed to get our users to their destination within 3 clicks. If we can pare that back to 1 or 2, all the better.

Give your users what they’re looking for. Value their time and their need for hassle-free web experiences. They'll reward you by returning and responding to your site.

All of this requires content disciplinarians. These three qualities are easy to understand but harder to accomplish. They require content professionals who carefully think, plan, and execute. They require conversations with clients and employers about the need for strategy (and not just tactics). Check out this great article by Meghan Casey on how content strategy prevents all sorts of problems.

This disciplined investment will produce websites that are:

• More effective in selling the product
• Faster to read
• Easier to use

Substantive, lean, and easy. A win-win-win website.

Does your organization have a content specialist or strategist? If you're ready to move from tactics into strategy, consider hiring one.

Upcoming post: Animation on the Home Page - Just Say No