The tendency with tourism websites and many other websites is to add too much.
It seems backwards, but it’s easier to make a website more cluttered and complex. Simplifying a site is an art. You want to have all the information your visitor needs to make the decisions you want them to, but you also don’t want to distract them with unnecessary content.
The better thing to do is to remove the clutter and to simplify.
Here are a few ways to do that.
1. Use Shorter, Scan-able Content
I’m not sure where the tendency comes from, but many people prefer to use large blocks of content. You’ve probably seen this type of content on websites. An entire page on a site might be one large paragraph.
The reason this doesn’t work is that large blocks of content are scary. They look longer than they actually might be and when we estimate that it will take a long time to read something we usually don’t take the time to read it.
A better approach is to break content up into shorter, scan-able content. It’s okay to use 2-3 sentences per paragraph.
Use headings as well to break up content and to make it easy for visitors to scan a page so they know what they’re reading. People will read a lot of content as long as they know what to expect.
2. Remove Unnecessary Navigation Links
The next item to examine on your website is the navigation. There is usually a main navigation on a website; usually at the top or maybe on the left side of the site.
The tendency is to have too many links on the main navigation. Too many options will confuse visitors and they won’t know what to visit first.
Simplify the navigation to the top five links. Make the decision based on your intended path. You can analyze your analytics to see what pages are the most popular and readjust, but try to steer visitors through the site so they get to your intended outcome.
3. Remove Sidebar Items
Another area that gets cluttered is the sidebar. There can be ads, links and all kinds of things in the sidebar. Cut the items in your sidebar down to three at the max.
As with all items on this list, prioritize the items based on the outcome you prefer from your visitors and remove those that don’t make the cut.
You’ll get visitors to follow your preferred path more often if you limit their options and that includes limiting in the sidebar.
4. Combine Content Into Fewer Pages
There is a new saying in the online world that scrolling is easier than clicking.
Your direction is to remove excess pages and put more content on each page. This will make for longer pages, but also for a site that’s easier to navigate.
This direction is a balance, however. You don’t want incredibly long pages so when you’re working on the pages read through them yourself and see if they’re getting too long.
The idea is to turn 10 pages into 3 pages. You don’t have to create a single page, but often you can create fewer pages than you might anticipate.
5. Limit Color Combinations
Finally, limit the color on your site.
Many tourism sites use lots of photos, which is great, but these photos are full of color. The best way to approach the site design is to use neutral colors so the photos and calls-to-action stand out.
The most important call-to-action should stand out the most on each page. You don’t want it to be blatant, but you want visitors to easily see it. The tendency is to have too much color happening, which makes the page a big blog of color that is difficult to understand.
Conclusion
Take the steps here to simplify your website. Chances are that your site isn’t far off from being a conversion machine. Taking just a few steps can change things for the better making it easier for your visitors to navigate your website and easier for them to reach your intended destinations.
That means more sales and more return on your website.
Image: Spirit-Fire
