Websites try to say too much because multiple stakeholders each add requirements without a shared framework for prioritization, and the site accumulates features, messages, and content through reactive problem-solving rather than strategic planning. Roughly 50% of projects experience scope creep.
Root causes include inadequate requirements gathering, poor initial planning, unclear change protocols, and pressure to satisfy every department's wish list. When multiple stakeholders are involved, each recontextualizes requirements from their own perspective (a simple contact form can double in complexity as departments add fields). Sites accumulate chat widgets, cookie consent banners, newsletter popups, and competing CTAs simultaneously on the homepage, preventing users from engaging with the core value. Feature creep happens silently; no single addition seems harmful, but the cumulative effect is a site that communicates nothing clearly because it tries to communicate everything at once. The antidote is a clear content hierarchy with a single primary message per page and ruthless prioritization of what belongs above the fold.