I remember working on a website project where it was obvious that something wasn’t working. The design was clean and minimalist, and technically, there was nothing wrong with it. But as I looked through the website, I found myself wondering where I was actually supposed to go.
There were so many services to choose from that I didn’t know where to begin. Everything seemed to be given the same level of importance, which meant nothing really stood out.
It reminded me of opening Netflix.
There are hundreds of shows and movies to watch, so you keep scrolling, hoping something catches your attention. You find one that looks interesting, but then you see another one, and another one, and suddenly you’ve spent more time choosing what to watch than actually watching anything. Sometimes, you just give up and close the app.
I think websites can have the same problem.
We tend to think that giving people more options is helpful because we’re showing them everything we can do. But sometimes, the more choices we give people, the harder it becomes for them to decide what they actually need.
And when someone lands on your website for the first time, they probably don’t know your business well enough to make that decision on their own.
Your website should help people figure out what they need
I don’t think a website should simply be a collection of information about your business. Yes, people need to know who you are, what you do, and what services you offer, but the website also needs to help them make sense of all that information.
Someone might arrive on your website because they found you through Google, read one of your blog posts, saw something you shared on social media, or received your link from someone else. Wherever they came from, they’re probably trying to figure out whether you can help them.
That’s why the next step should be easy to understand.
If you offer several services, you don’t necessarily have to put all of them in front of someone at once. You can lead them toward the service you want to prioritize and let the rest of your website help them explore the other ways they can work with you.
Your other services can still be there. They just don’t have to compete with each other for attention.
Think about where you want people to go next
This is something I’ve started paying more attention to when I look at websites.
Instead of only asking, Does this website look good? I also think about what happens after someone lands on the page.
Where are they supposed to go?
If they read the homepage, what should they click next? If they land on a blog post, is there somewhere else for them to go after reading it? If they’re interested but aren’t ready to inquire yet, is there a way for them to stay connected with the business?
That’s where your website starts becoming more than just a place where you display your services.
It becomes part of the journey.
For one business, that journey might be as simple as someone visiting the homepage, learning about the main service, and submitting an inquiry. For another, someone might discover a blog post first, download a free resource, join the email list, and eventually come back when they’re ready to work with you.
There isn’t one exact journey that every website needs to follow. What matters is that you’re not leaving people to figure everything out by themselves.
Sometimes the problem isn’t the design
When a website isn’t getting inquiries, it’s easy to think it needs another redesign. Maybe the homepage needs to look more modern. Maybe the colors need to change. Maybe the fonts aren’t right.
And sometimes, those things really do need improvement.
But I think it’s also worth looking at the website from the perspective of someone who has never seen your business before.
Can they quickly understand what you do? Can they tell who your services are for? Do they know which service they should look at first? And once they’re interested, is it obvious what they should do next?
Because you can have a beautiful website and still lose people if they don’t know where to go.
Your website doesn’t need to show people everything at once. It needs to give them enough information to understand what you do, then help them take the next step.
That’s why I don’t think of a website as a catalog of everything a business has to offer.
I think of it more like a guide.
It should meet people where they are, help them understand what they need, and gently point them toward where they should go next.
And sometimes, making your website work better isn’t about adding more to it.
It’s about making the path clearer.
Need help with your own website?
If your website has grown over time and you’re starting to feel like there’s too much going on, I can help you simplify the structure and create a clearer path toward your services.
And if you’re building or updating your website yourself but getting stuck on what to write, I also created 15 AI Website Copy Prompts to help you write your website copy faster without staring at a blank page.
