Is Your Website Making Things Harder Than They Need to Be?
A good website doesn’t need to do everything. It needs to do the right things well. It’s easy to keep adding things to a website: another feature, another animation, another form field, another plugin, another section on the homepage. Each addition might seem useful on its own, but over time, a simple website can become surprisingly complicated. And the more complicated it becomes, the harder it can be for visitors to find what they need and take the next step. So, if you’re wondering whether your website is really working for your customers, here are four things worth checking.
1. More features don’t necessarily make a better website
When you’re building or updating a website, it’s tempting to add more.
A chatbot might be useful. A booking system might make sense. A pop-up could help collect enquiries. A fancy animation might make the site look more interesting. But a feature isn’t useful simply because it’s there. The better question is: does it make things easier for the visitor?
Can they find the information they need quickly? Can they understand what you offer? Can they contact you without having to work out how? Can they complete an important task without unnecessary clicks?
If a feature doesn’t help visitors do something useful, it may be adding complexity rather than value. A website isn’t better because it has more functions. Sometimes the best improvement is removing something. More features ≠ a better website.
2. Your contact form might be putting people off
Contact forms are a good example of something that can become unnecessarily complicated.
Imagine you want to ask a business a simple question. You click “Contact us” and find a form asking for your name, email address, phone number, company, job title, budget, address, how you heard about them and a detailed description of your requirements. You might fill it in. Or you might think, “I’ll do this later.”
And later never comes.
Of course, some businesses genuinely need detailed information before they can respond. A solicitor, consultant or service provider may need to understand an enquiry properly before getting back to someone. But that doesn’t mean every field needs to be mandatory. Think about what you actually need at the first stage. Often, a name, email address and message are enough to start a conversation. The easier you make it to get in touch, the less friction you create. Don’t make potential customers work too hard to become potential customers.
3. A slow website can lose customers
Speed is another part of the user experience that’s easy to overlook.
You might have an attractive website with professional photography, useful information and a beautifully designed homepage. But if the pages take too long to load, visitors may never see any of it. People are used to websites responding quickly. When a page takes too long to appear, they don’t necessarily sit there patiently waiting. They leave. And they may not tell you why. A slow website can also affect how people perceive your business. Even if your actual service is excellent, a frustrating online experience can create a poor first impression.
There are many possible reasons for a slow website, including:
- Large, unoptimised images
- Too many plugins or scripts
- Poor hosting
- Outdated software
- Inefficient code
- Third-party tools loading unnecessarily
You don’t need to turn your website into a technical project just because you’ve read that speed matters.
Start by using the website yourself. Click around. Open it on different devices. Notice where you have to wait. Then investigate what’s causing the problem. Fast isn’t just a technical detail. It’s part of good customer service.
4. Use your website like a customer
When was the last time you actually used your own website? Not just checked the homepage or looked at it on your laptop. Actually used it.
Try opening your website on your phone and imagine you’ve never seen it before. Can you immediately understand what the business does? Can you find the main services? Can you find the information you’re looking for? Can you easily contact the business?
Try the contact form. Click the buttons. Open the menu. Read a few paragraphs. If relevant, try to find your opening hours, prices or location. You’ll often notice things that aren’t obvious when you’re looking at the website as its owner.
That’s because you already know your business. Your customers don’t.
You know where everything is, so finding it feels easy. You know what your terminology means, so it seems obvious. You know which button visitors are supposed to click, so you don’t notice when the next step isn’t clear. Your customers have none of that background knowledge. That’s why using your website as a customer can be so useful. It helps you see the experience from their perspective rather than your own.
A better website isn’t necessarily a bigger website
There’s a common assumption that improving a website means adding something. A new feature. A new page. A new tool. A new design element. But sometimes the best improvement is the opposite.
Remove unnecessary steps. Simplify the navigation. Reduce the number of form fields. Optimise the images. Get rid of features nobody uses. Make important information easier to find. Make the next step obvious. A website doesn’t need to impress everyone who visits it. It needs to help the right people.
Clear beats clever.
Simple beats complicated.
Useful beats impressive.
So before you add anything new to your website, ask one simple question: Will this make things easier for my customer?
If the answer is no, you may not need it.