Decluttering your website

Your business’s website is no different to your store – appearance is everything. Customers will walk straight past a tired, messy and cluttered shop, and the same goes for your website. Customers want the simplest user experience possible. They do not want to be confused, overloaded with information or faced with a difficult-to-use website. They want to go online, order their printed T-shirts and checkout. They are not as excited as most garment decorators are by set-up costs, stitch counts and the number of colours in a print. Strive for simplicity and provide your customer base with an easy-to-use experience and straightforward shopping basket so that they’re not tempted to look elsewhere for their branded clothing.

Here are five tips to help declutter your business’s website:

• Streamline your home/navigation bar This is the spine of your site and holds it all together in terms of accessibility. Make the bar a simple-to-use, informative tool and do not overload it with options and information. Organise it and make it concise for your customer.
• Less is more Content is a fundamental element of SEO, but sometimes less is more. Customers are after quality, not quantity – do not bombard them with huge chunks of content and information. Be clear, keep the reader’s attention and focus on what information is crucial to them when purchasing or enquiring through your website.
• Continuously remove old items This is one that is often overlooked. Take a few moments each day to remove any out- of-date seasonal content and campaigns. Keep on top of your website and ensure that your site looks like it is both managed and professional.
• Manage loading times Customers are an impatient bunch and often happy to shop elsewhere over the smallest error. Ensure your website does not take forever to load; work with your developer or provider to make sure customers can navigate your website quickly.
• Clear call-to-action and contact details Ensure all action buttons and contact details are visually easy for customers to find – it will improve your chances of winning the order.