You probably noticed my site is one page lighter. Actually, you probably didn’t… But I’ll pretend you’re here that often.

Above is the now removed, print services page—Boring content, no iconography, too busy, and just overall a disappointing page to look at.

‍(To sum up the purpose of the print services page: I listed the type of products I could get printed, as well as a download link to a pricing sheet, and a form to send job inquiries.)

‍I was talking it over with my bud Jake Downs, and he helped me realize that this page on my site was just an unnecessary piece of content.

So what are the benefits of me removing this page? Let me tell you...

Thinking like my viewer

What Jake made me realize, was that I have two types of visitors:

1. Potential clients (reviewing my work, see what I offer, want to contact / hire me)
2. Peers (Other designers wanting to learn from my blog or review my work)

From this realization, I’ve learned not to overload my visitors with any unnecessary content—Only leave what's actually important.

Identifying the unnecessary information

• No potential client really needs to see this information, unless they’ve already engaged me for design work.

• I want to position myself as a graphic designer and focus on that – without confusing anyone with what I have to offer.

• Printing is an additional service I can offer clients – not a service I feel clients are going to directly come to me for.

• Removing this page helps slim down my site and streamlines the main navigation.

Although I feel that the print services information is no longer main navigation worthy, it can still be of some use… It’s a great internal resource that I can share with my clients once I know more about them and their needs.

‍(i.e. A client is interested in business cards… Most likely they’re going to be in-need of print services.)

Being a freelancer is to grow and evolve

I’m sharing this experience with you, because I’m learning from my mistakes and turning it into knowledge.

‍(Consider the content I choose to share, and how appropriate it really is to others. Will it benefit anyone browsing my website, or might it confuse them?

)Learn from your mistakes – rather than fretting over them or simply ignoring them entirely.

Conclusion

I’m learning more and more from my experiences, and I plan to continue to share these lessons with you.