But where is the CTA?

This website used to have more. A lot more. But I recently removed the flourish, the things that were just there because they were “best practices.” The elements that made this site look more professional.

The buttons that existed for the sake of making the UI feel more professional? Gone. The CTA in the hero? Gone. I even removed navigation from most pages.

I rebuilt everything as simple as possible. No strategy. Just creating what feels good to me, is needed for the state of the site today, and has a purpose.

The breaking point

A few weeks ago, I had something to say. I opened my trusty MacBook Air and started typing my thoughts into what I hoped would become a blog post.

After some furious typing, I wanted to see how it would look on the web. So I opened WordPress and created a new post.

Then the optimization began. I added signup forms. Tweaked content to be more “strategic.” Forced photos because every post needs one. Added headlines where I didn’t really want them.

I got frustrated. The post had lost its fun. The energy was gone. I closed my laptop in anger and disappointment. That post got deleted.

That’s when it hit me, my own website was suffering from over optimization and it was no longer fun to work on. It represented best practices, but not me.

This cycle has repeated for years. During that time, I’ve created barely anything beyond client work. And I now know exactly why.

I know way too much

Over the years, I’ve worked with incredible creators—amazing humans like Pat Flynn, Ali Abdaal, and Nathan Barry. These guys know their shit. I’ve learned so much from them and I am forever thankful for the opportunities I have had.

I know that having a consistent brand across all platforms, posting at ideal times, and always pushing people to your email list is the “right way.” I know I should have an about page, a newsletter page, a blog page—and a million other things connected to my online presence.

But here’s the thing: I’m not them. I have different goals.

The knowledge I absorbed would’ve created an online presence like theirs. But that’s not what I want. That’s not me, and it always felt off. I was never going to succeed like this.

Knowing the “right way” has paralyzed me. I know the “best” way, so I should be doing it that way, right?

Wrong.

Back to the beginning

When I started my online journey, I was having fun. I built crazy shit. I tried new things. I had no idea what I was doing, but I loved it.

Eventually I got kind of good and people started to offer me money to build them a website. I saw this as a my ticket to freedom from the 9-5, so I jumped on board. I turned my joy of building on the web into a 12-year freelance web design career. I’m incredibly thankful for everything that gave me.

But it had a cost: I stopped building for me.

I became an expert in best practices. I learned all the “shoulds“. I learned how to build what clients wanted. And somewhere along the way, I lost my creativity.

Ship it and see what happens

So I’m stripping it all back. No more forced CTAs. No more strategic content. No more optimization for optimization’s sake.

I’m going back to a “build cool shit, share it with the world, see what happens” mentality. Simple website. Simple online presence. No strategy. Just creating, posting, coding, and designing because I want to.

I don’t care about the “right way” anymore.

I’m solving for today, not for some imagined future where everything is perfectly optimized. When I need an about page, I’ll add one. When I want navigation back, I’ll put it back.

But right now? I just want to create again.