Pop-up advertisements for slim-down secrets are everywhere. Buy this to get shredded abs! Only three minutes for a toned beach body by summer! Most, if not all, are snake oil chemistry clickbait. But just because the message is annoying doesn’t mean the desire is absent.
People would love to have a beach body with the click of a button. Well, good news! No, we’re not selling you the magical elixir to your personal needs, but we can give you some tips on how to slim up your website.
Yes, your website occasionally needs to cut the fat, especially in the summer months. Why? More people are using their mobile devices than desktops than ever before. The growing rate of mobile usage means people are more likely to encounter your website on the go and not at home, where data-rich pages fill their screens.
Landing Pages
Landing pages are excellent tools for conveying your business’s primary mission, some alluring graphics and simple calls to action. If people aren’t interested in browsing all of your pages when it’s 85 degrees and sunny, give them a form to fill out and an email link to follow when they’re ready.
Re-Organize
Menus can be tricky. Theoretically, you can put every single page in your primary or footer menus. WordPress allows you the possibility of creating multiple menus for different purposes, and there’s no better way to simplify a site than directing traffic to your most important pages. Pick your top 5, 4 or 3 pages, as long as one is the contact page.
Toss Stale Graphics
Like Christmas trees in January or guacamole the Wednesday after the Super Bowl, things get stale. And nothing gets more stale on a website than old imagery. Don’t be afraid to give your site a summer ‘do. It’s essential for your customers to know you care enough to keep your homepage relevant.
Add Video
If you can read it, you can say it out loud. Adding a video to your homepage right at the top will practically move thumbs to the play function. Videos are great for entertainers, restaurants and nightlife hotspots. You might as well show customers what they’re in store for instead of telling them.
Social Distortion
Yes, you can have too many social media applications. Businesses get overenthusiastic when their site comes online, often signing up for any number of the dozens of social media apps available. Unless you are continually producing content, there is no need to be on more than Facebook, LinkedIn, and either Twitter or Instagram, depending on how visual your brand aims to become.
Be Loud
Have you ever seen John Daly’s pants? Be that kind of loud. Dark or dulcet color patterns risk a summer beach goer or weekend warrior quickly closing the browser. Ironically, a bright site is one for sore eyes in well-lit areas. A low-lit color pattern may work in the fall but can be hard to read outdoors, even with your phone’s brightness all the way up.
