Ruthless Prioritization for Website Optimization

In an age of speed scrolling, sub-30 second videos, increased focus on sustainable web design,  AI, and self-service, there is a growing need to create a more concise, impactful web experience. 

“If everything is important, then nothing is.” - Patrick Lencioni, American author on business management 

It’s easy to want to show website users everything the company can offer and do, to cast a broad net and capture as many users as possible. We’ve all been there — part of a website planning meeting where a cross section of stakeholders representing various business units advocate for all of the content and features that benefit their constituencies. Business goals, user needs, pet projects, and legacy requirements and a litany of other asks infiltrate the requirements list. But if you’ve ever eaten at a restaurant whose menu looks like an encyclopedia, you understand that too many options makes it difficult to decide what to eat for lunch. 

Let’s be honest, your users don’t come to read the entire encyclopedia of your business. They won't be rummaging through the 8-level-deep navigation to figure out whether to engage with your company. They came here for a specific reason, a task: to learn, to do, or to buy. And more than likely, their mission is probably directly in line with your business’s core value prop. The rest is clutter and distraction.

When you cut out the clutter and focus on what really matters, you can create a website that's more user-friendly, easier to navigate, more sustainable and/or faster loading, and ultimately more effective. By taking a ruthless approach to content and feature prioritization, you can make sure your website is the best it can be — for you and for your users.

“We should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.” - Marie Kondo, Japanese organizing consultant and author

So, how do you actually go about prioritizing your website content and features? There are a few key steps to keep in mind. 

1. First, you need to understand your users — who they are, what they want, and how they interact with your site. Conducting user research and testing can be incredibly helpful here.
2. You'll also want to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that align those user needs directly with your business goals. KPIs would include things like filling out a form, making a purchase, or booking an appointment. 
3. And finally, you'll need to focus on the user journey — an optimized mapping out of the steps your users take to complete their task. The information gained from understanding who your users are, what they are trying to accomplish, and how that maps to your KPIs, will help you to decide what items are most critical and should be prioritized.

Once we decide what’s important, distractions and unnecessary features can be cleared. For instance, we might see a website that's been decluttered and streamlined to make navigation easier and more intuitive. Or we might see a landing page that's been carefully designed to prioritize the most important information and calls-to-action. And we might even see a website that's stripped down to its essentials, just a few pages with only the most essential features and content included.

“I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.” - Benjamin Franklin

The ultimate test of any website is how it performs — and that's where measurement comes in. Continuous testing and measurement are the key to learning and refining. Heat mapping, surveying the users, and good old in-market analytics tracking can uncover key areas of success and failure. Tracking metrics like conversion rates, you can see whether your ruthless prioritization efforts are paying off. And by keeping an eye on user satisfaction and engagement, you can ensure that your website is truly meeting their needs.

Website content and feature prioritization can be a powerful tool for creating a website that truly works for you and your users. Our hope is that you'll take these tips and start applying them to your own website — cutting out the clutter, focusing on what really matters, and driving more conversions.