Yup, hands up guilty as charged. I’ve done this\u2026 actually all of these<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n What do these problems have in common? They are visible, physical problems <\/strong>(especially exploding sock drawers). They impact negatively<\/strong> on your life; that jammed-shut drawer, all those emails clogging up your inbox.<\/p>\n These are things we know we need to sort out<\/strong> so they stop being a problem. But they’re often tedious tasks.<\/p>\n We have the same problems with websites\u2026<\/p>\n Websites can have the same too-much-stuff problem<\/strong> as our sock drawer. But the real problem is it\u2019s often invisible<\/strong> to us.<\/p>\n With websites, the problem starts when lots of \u2018stuff\u2019 builds up over time. Old documents and images, defunct logos, old versions of pages etc.<\/p>\n You may think this stuff is harmless; it\u2019s all behind the scenes. You don\u2019t link to them or use them anymore\u2026. right?<\/p>\n Nope.<\/p>\n Just because you have removed a hyperlink to an old document for example, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s gone. If that old version still exists on your site, it\u2019s still indexed and found by search engines<\/strong> and people.<\/p>\n Your website may seem to work perfectly fine \u2013 but behind the scenes the stuff cluttering up your website can really harm it\u2019s performance,<\/strong> peoples user experience<\/strong> \u2013 and sometimes even your reputation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n And here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n Imagine somebody wants to find out the latest information about our student accommodation. Using a search engine they type in \u2018student accommodation Newcastle University\u2019.<\/p>\n The results list all the pages and documents that have been indexed as containing this information on the University\u2019s website. Alongside some page links, a PDF is listed \u2013 uh oh\u2026it\u2019s for 2013!*<\/p>\n How can people trust us if our information is out of date?<\/p>\n This is why deleting stuff is good.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ideally you\u2019d delete the old content each time you replace it with new content on your website. But if you haven\u2019t done that (or you have inherited a website from a hoarder) or just don\u2019t know where to begin, then don\u2019t worry help is at hand.<\/p>\n The minimalist method of cutting out clutter is an interesting approach to take. Take shoes for example.<\/p>\n Group all the similar shoes you have; trainers, sandals, boots etc. Decide which pairs of each type do you wear most often and want to keep, then remove the rest.<\/p>\n This is easily applied to your website; documents, images, logo\u2019s, old versions of pages etc.<\/p>\n Decide which ones you need to keep. They are:<\/p>\n Delete the rest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n ROT stands for redundant, out-of-date<\/strong> or trivial<\/strong>. Large organisations (like us) that have a massive web presence find this a problem. By taking a good look at your site and deleting stuff you can stop the ROT.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t treat your website like a file store. Keeping stuff \u2018just in case\u2019<\/strong> on your website is:<\/p>\n As part of Go Mobile<\/a> we will audit each site<\/strong> in the programme, and identify ROT<\/strong>. When making our websites work well for devices with small screens, deleting old stuff we don’t need is vital.<\/p>\n If you want any advice about where\/how to start, just get in touch.<\/a><\/p>\n There\u2019s also a good article from Paul Boag about dealing with ROT<\/a> that\u2019s worth a read.<\/p>\n *Relax…this search works perfectly well in real life \u2013 no old documents being indexed here!<\/p>\n Image credits:<\/p>\n I bet one of these situations is familiar to you: struggling to close an exploding sock drawer because it\u2019s jammed packed full slamming shut your wardrobe to stop an avalanche of shoes from escaping repeatedly ignoring the message popping up … Continue reading ![\"Over-flowing](\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/web\/files\/2015\/07\/socks.jpg\")
<\/a>Exploding socks<\/h2>\nDo or do not, there is no try<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Minimalist mantra<\/h2>\n\n
Keep calm and stop the ROT<\/h2>\n
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