Website navigation and marketing: Why less is definitely more

When it comes to most things to do with marketing, less is definitely more. Finding focus and offering your users, prospects or customers clarity pays dividends when it comes to engaging them.

This article from econsultancy is focused on web design and website navigation – and is an interesting read in itself. However, what it reminded me was that finding focus is the first and most important step in engaging and, ultimately, creating new prospects.

Choice vs choosing

Choice is generally a good thing but choosing takes time. Don’t Make Me Think, as someone once said. Having to stop and consciously try and understand what’s being presented, scan all the options and decide what to do next breaks the flow and is a barrier to engagement.

Information overload

There’s often a tendency to make sure as many things are included in marketing as possible – whether it’s an email, the website homepage or a brochure. The thinking being that you need to make sure the viewer knows about all the things the company does. Or perhaps it’s because all the stakeholders want to be represented.

Making it easier for people to engage

By presenting too many options, however, the viewer is overwhelmed. For prospects especially, they don’t care about the things your company does, they care about the problems, challenges and needs that they’re facing.

By paring down the options and bringing clarity, you’re making it easier for them to make a choice and more likely that they’ll engage. Making the first click on the website home page (the first choice) easy, dramatically increases your chances of a successful journey. The same thinking should be applied to all of your channels.