Declutter your website: Keep what works, eliminate the rest

Hilary Marsh, Content Company @hilarymarsh

Declutter Your WebsiteKeep what works, eliminate the rest

or, How to stop being a content hoarder

Today’s takeaways

The negative effects of content hoarding

Why it happens

How to fix the problems and declutter

What Hoarding Looks Like

http://professiongal.com/2011/02/22/five-signs-youre-an-office-hoarder/

• What’s here?

• Is it useful?

• If I was looking for something specific, could I find it?

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

• Is anything here relevant?

• Does this meet my current needs?

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

2008

2008

2012

2012

20122014

2013

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

20102014range

2012

2012

2011

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

2008

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

The content I was really looking for

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

2004

2007

2010

Why Hoarding is Bad

Satisfaction

Usage

Harder to manage

Customer service costs

Effort Migration/Transforming Tagging Auditing Storing Measuring/Reporting

Why Websites Get Cluttered

10. “That information is valuable!”

http://adventurereporting.wordpress.com/archaeology-in-melbourne/

Your content may be valuable, but how will visitors know to dig for it if they don’t know it’s there?

Why Websites Get Cluttered

10. “That information is valuable!”

9. “I spent a long time creating that”

http://www.tuppersteam.com/relocation-information/colorado-outdoors/42-funniest-ski-outfits/

You may have paid a lot for this outfit back in 1982, but you don’t even ski anymore!

Why Websites Get Cluttered

10. “That information is valuable!”

9. “I spent a long time creating that”

8. Last-minute rush

7. No process for reviewing

6. “The Internet is free”

5. Changing leadership

4. Moving too fast to look back

Why Websites Get Cluttered

3. Understaffed

2. No understanding of negative impact

#1 reason:

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

I removed the link, so the content must have disappeared from the system

Excuses for Keeping Content

“I might need to refer to it someday.”

“I might need to create something like this again.”

“No one has given me permission to remove it.”

“The person who created it doesn’t work here anymore.”

“I might break a link.”

How to Declutter Today

• Know what’s there: audit your content

• Automated tools may help

https://blog.gathercontent.com/how-to-automate-your-content-audits

http://russbeeson.com/portfolio/content-inventory-of-degree-programs/

• Look for patterns

• Incorporate analytics

• Identify content ROT

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/how-to-pack-your-backpack/

Use Best Bets to make the right info rise to the top of search results

How to Keep Your Website Clean

1. Create content lifecycle criteria

2. Be vigilant about using them

3. Create smart, sustainable URL practices

Conduct content “spring cleaning”

Your CMS may be able to help you make time

URLs

20102014range

2012

2012

2011

Some notes

http://www.beloit.edu/about/

Old ≠ bad

http://www.tacoma.uw.edu/404

Create smart 404 pages

The Beauty of a Cleaner Site

• Less is more

• See what you have

• Enjoy and use it all

• Stay organized

• Cull and replace as necessary

Resources

Content lifecycle criteria worksheethttp://www.hilarymarsh.com/2014/08/19/content-lifecycle-criteria-worksheet/

ROT: The Low-Hanging Fruit of Content Analysishttp://meetcontent.com/blog/rot-the-low-hanging-fruit-of-content-analysis/

Are you a content hoarder? Time to declutter! http://www.hilarymarsh.com/2012/04/03/are-you-a-content-hoarder/

The Web Diet: How to Simplify Your Websitehttp://www.welchmanpierpoint.com/blog/web-diet-how-simplify-your-web-site

Removing poor quality content increases customer satisfactionhttp://www.gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking/removing-poor-quality-content-increases-customer-satisfaction

About Me

Doing content strategy since before content strategy was cool

Content strategy doer, manager, mentor,teacher, community leader since 1999

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Thank you!

Hilary Marsh

@hilarymarsh

hilary@hilarymarsh.com