There are lots of easy ways to mess up a website, but trying to put everything on the homepage has got to be the easiest one.

In reality, of course, this usually happens over time. It’s hard to measure the cost of homepage real estate, so we tend to think of it as free. You add a link for a new service, and then a banner for a partner, and then another content category and a couple of menus until the whole thing is cluttered beyond comprehension. Each of these things seemed, in the short term, to increase sales. Put together, they ruin the website, and it seems like the only answer is a major redesign.

This week at work, I’m spring cleaning – getting rid of at least some of the stuff the customers don’t need to see. I think I might make it an annual event.

After all, I don’t want it to end up like this: