When was the last time you attempted to declutter your website?
It’s a chore no business owner wants to do, but a necessary one. Leaving old content to pile up will negatively affect your brand’s image, throwing a massive spanner into your lead-generating machine.
Besides, people prefer minimalism and negative space in today’s market to a wall of text and pictures. It ensures they’re not overwhelmed, find information easily, and have a positive experience.
How do you remove clutter from your website, freshening things up without damaging your SEO?
Here we investigate the principles of decluttering and how you can adapt them to improve your website and content.
Let’s dig in.
Key Takeaways
Decluttering your website is a necessary task to improve the user experience and maintain a positive brand image.
The KonMari method, created by Japanese author and organizing consultant Marie Kondo, can be adapted for decluttering a website.
The six steps of the KonMari method include committing to cleaning up, picturing the desired lifestyle, discarding unimportant items first, separating everything into categories, not deviating from the order, and asking if an item brings joy.
To adapt the KonMari method for a website, the first step is to commit to decluttering and plan out the ideal user experience from the moment a visitor hits the homepage.
Removing outdated content, simplifying navigation, and creating a clear call-to-action are effective ways to declutter a website.
What Is the Purpose of Decluttering?
Have you ever seen a show about hoarding?
People build up a collection of items that eventually prevent them from living in their houses. They lose the function of their home by choosing to hold onto things they believe contain some value.
Nobody’s saying you have a messy house. But there’s a good chance website clutter is similarly affecting your business. As content builds up, visitors find it hard to navigate and end up leaving your site for another.
Decluttering is a process of correcting this issue and creating a positive flow of quality customers. Think of it as spring cleaning, removing anything that doesn’t work, and improving your delivery of valuable content.
One individual who has perfected the art of decluttering is Marie Kondo, a Japanese author and organising consultant. Her minimalist-inspired approach isn’t intended to perform a quick clean-up. Instead, it’s a set of principles to adopt to live an ideal lifestyle.
Marie’s tidying technique relies on six core rules that ensure you remove clutter effectively, which are:
- Commit to cleaning up
- Picture the lifestyle you desire
- Discard unimportant items first
- Separate everything into categories
- Don’t deviate from the order
- Ask yourself if an item brings you joy
Each step has a purpose and slowly strips away useless clutter. Once complete, you’re left with a space where you feel secure and an area that functions the way you intended.
Adapting the KonMari Method for Your Website
Although the KonMari Method is used to clean a physical space, you can easily adapt the same philosophy to declutter your website.
Here are our six steps to freshen up your content and give your online business the makeover it desperately needs.
Step 1: Commit to Decluttering Your Website
Sometimes the most challenging part of any new process is finding the time to start. We’re all guilty of pushing tasks back, believing that we’ll get to them later.
The longer you wait, the more you dread the process, and it becomes an annoying chore. Only this time, your procrastination is slowly eating away at your bottom line.
A better approach to removing website clutter is to view it as an exciting chance to freshen up your brand.
Make time to dedicate your full attention to the task and go into it with positivity.
If you don’t know where to begin, outsource a consultant to sit with you and figure out the best way forward.
Step 2: Plan Out Your Website
The objective of removing website clutter isn’t to delete all your content or copy your competitors.
Instead, it’s an opportunity to plan out your ideal user experience from the moment visitors hit your homepage.
Start by creating a rough site map or use paper to sketch out your typical customer progression. Ask yourself what the purpose of each page is and where they’re going to send the reader.
Eventually, you’ll have a visual representation of how people find answers to questions and become aware of your products or services.
You’ll also pick up on any potential problems and unnecessary loops that could lose the attention of a future customer.
Step 3: Remove Outdated Content
Once you have an idea of your updated website, you can begin removing website clutter and expired content.
The best way to start your spring cleaning is by focusing on the oldest items first. Rather than just tossing ancient blogs in the bin, give them a quick read.
If the copy doesn’t have evergreen information or answer a question clearly and accurately, remove it. Remember, outdated content is far worse than none at all.
The point of this step isn’t only to remove clutter.
It gives you the opportunity to learn what doesn’t work and avoid these issues in future content. You’ll also have a better understanding of how many blogs and pages your site will need.
Step 4: Group Blogs Into Categories
These days, focusing on a single target market isn’t a savvy business move. You need to diversify and offer your products or services to a broad audience, ensuring you make the most significant impact.
Putting blogs into categories is a fantastic way to declutter your website. It makes pages more accessible for visitors to find relevant information and the opportunity to see what else is available.
For example, a culinary company could group all its recipes together and have another category for product reviews.
Creating separate spaces for blogs makes it easier to organise your content. It also allows you to see which categories bring in the most traffic.
Step 5: Stick to the Plan
It’s easy to get caught up in the decluttering process, jumping from page to page with the intention of cleaning. Like the KonMari method, sticking to your plan and not diverting from the steps is crucial.
You need to focus on completing each task and building confidence in yourself before tackling the most important sections.
As you remove clutter and unnecessary content, you begin to gain a better understanding of your brand’s purpose.
It also ensures that you stay true to the principles of a clean, intuitive website when you get to your homepage.
Step 6: Ask Yourself if Your Content Is Useful
The final step to decluttering your website requires that you take an honest look at your blog’s value. Besides, it’s better for your SEO ranking to post quality content over quantity in the long run.
Rather than throwing away a blog or guide that doesn’t provide a clear answer, consider improving it. Use the opportunity to update information, simplify any instructions, and upload it as new content.
This process also prevents you from publishing duplicates or, worse, conflicting advice. Your readers will see you as a trustworthy source and come to you for answers when needed.
Tips to Declutter Your Website
No business is the same, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when you want to declutter your website. You need to stay true to your brand’s vision and determine the best possible experience for your customers.
Here are four tips to freshen up your content and website:
Have a visual hierarchy: The moment anyone clicks on your site, their brains pick out information according to visual clues. While colours are a powerful tool, using headers to separate content allows readers to find what they’re looking for quickly.
Embrace negative space: If you want to see an excellent example of negative space, look at Google’s homepage. The white background draws your attention to the search bar in the middle without any distractions.
It’s essential to use these clean areas to your advantage when you declutter your website to maintain a reader’s attention. They also make it easier for visitors to locate pertinent info.
Streamline navigation: One way to clean up your site and still guide visitors intuitively is by using a collapsible menu. Avoid adding more than six options to this list, as it can overwhelm the reader.
Consistency is key: Once you’ve pinpointed the style and tone of your content, it’s vital that you keep it the same throughout. That way, you hold the reader’s attention and prevent blogs from becoming website clutter.
Out With the Old and In With the New
As you can see, decluttering your content to give your website a fresh, updated feel is more straightforward than many think.
By adapting the KonMari Method to your business strategy, you can focus on what works and learn from what doesn’t. It also improves how you engage with your audience and builds trust in your brand.
Are you ready to declutter your website?
The sooner you implement these principles into your online business, the quicker you’ll see a better flow of energy and quality customers.
If you prefer someone to guide you through the process, reach out to our Hippo Thinks team. We’ll help you sort through the clutter and find a marketing strategy that converts.
Related
Is AI the Future for Content Marketing?
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Artificial intelligence is creeping into the world of technology more and more. When it comes to marketing, many businesses are opting to
9 YouTube Myths and Legends Debunked
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Undoubtedly, YouTube is one of the most attractive platforms for content creators. What common YouTube myths and legends are out there that
Understanding Your Digital Maturity Model: A Complete Guide
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn How established is your company’s online presence and is it easily adaptable to the ever-evolving digital landscape? If your answer to these