So, you want to create a website? That’s cool.
For most people, creating a website is a “must-do” item but always gets pushed to the back burner because there’s never enough time, or money, or creativity, or tech skills, or [insert your favorite excuse here].
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Creating your own website can be scary. It can be frustrating. And it can be so overwhelming that it’s easy to just avoid it altogether. But if you approach your website with a strategic plan, you can avoid all that and fast forward straight to the fun part where it starts delivering you dreamy clients on a silver platter.
Sounds perfect, right? So, I’m going to tell you how to create that strategic website that’s going to help you see a return on investment in this post based on my 15+ years of designing websites. That’s right, I started designing websites when I was a teenager and I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way 😉
From global Fortune 500 companies to single-employee businesses, there’s one thing that all high-performing websites need and that’s a strategy. And when I say high-performing, I mean a website that gets you ROI. That’s what you really want right – to see those hard-earned dollars come back to you and multiply?
Good.
To be extra clear, we aren’t building a website to check a box just to say we have one… that’s what I like to call a brochure website. This kind of website doesn’t serve your customer well and instead acts more like an online business card or brochure. Its job is to inform but it doesn’t excel at getting you paying clients and customers.
Your strategy should be completely based on the type of business you have, your products/services, your ideal client. and your business model. Every business is different so every website strategy is also going to be different. If you try to simply copy what someone else is doing you may fall flat on your face with dismal results because their business is completely different than yours and what works for them may not work for you.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, at the heart of any business is the purpose to make money. That’s why it exists! And if you can’t make money then your business can’t grow, duh. So the website strategy that’s going to help you make more money needs a few key components:
A crystal clear picture of your dream client
Many people would argue if you are trying to cater to everyone in your business then you are going to end up serving no one. Or you are going to end up hating your business because it’s all over the place and doesn’t really serve your mission. That’s why you need a vivid picture in your mind of who your ideal client is. This will help support every decision you make on your website especially the content you are writing.
A way to get those dream clients into your sales funnel
This could be a blog subscribe form, a lead magnet sign-up, a quiz (try Interact), or a squeeze page to hidden content. Very seldomly will someone visit your website, having never heard of you before and make a purchase on their first visit, especially if you are a service-based business with high-ticket pricing. It happens…. but what’s more likely to land you sales is by continuing to nurture a visitor after capturing their contact info and leading them to sale after multiple engagements. You can’t do that though if you have no way to contact your visitors after they click off your site.
An offering/product at different price levels
If you want to make money, you have to ask for the sale, plain and simple. How you do that on a website is through landing pages. You can have a landing page for each of your services/products or for key offers that support your business model. This is also where you can introduce the value ladder framework, where you have different offerings that serve different price points. It’s much less intimidating for a customer to buy a $20 service or product from you than something that costs thousands of dollars. It gives them a chance to test the waters and see if your business can really follow through. If you serve your audience well at this price point, you’ll start to create a loyal customer base that will be primed to buy your higher-priced services or products at some point.
Calls to Action
Calls to action tell your visitors what to do next. Not surprisingly, CTAs are something you will definitely want to use on your landing pages in order to coax your users to ‘Add to Cart’ or ‘Download Now’. You should use your CTA’s judiciously though and consider that each of your website pages only has one job to do. Focus your CTAs around that one job and make it count instead of trying to overwhelm your users with all the choices.
Social proof
Social proof adds credibility to your business and helps support conversion. There are a ton of ways you can show this on your website ie. videos, quotes, case studies, screenshots of messages, or embedded reviews from sites like Yelp. The point is to reinforce that your visitors are making a good decision when they buy from you because their peers have done it too. Be strategic about the placement of your social proof and how it’s integrated into your site in order to get the maximum benefit from this.
A way to get people to your website
Lastly, getting ROI from your site can’t happen unless you have a way to get website traffic. A bomb.com website can’t convert visitors if there are none. There are a number of ways you can get people to your site but more or less it comes down to two methods: organic or paid traffic. Organic traffic is from visitors that find you through search, Pinterest or other social media without you having to pay for it. Paid traffic, is well, paid. That means you used Google ads, Facebook ads, or some other ad placement service to help you get traffic. There’s no right or wrong option here, but if your website is brand new you are really going to have to hustle to get organic traffic. Focusing on SEO, blogging, and/or your social media channels is the best way to help your organic traffic grow.
So, there you have it. If the ROI for your website is important to you, these are the key elements that are going to make it happen. Do you need every single one of these things in place to make a sale on your site? Well no. But will you make more sales if you do? Yes – I whole-heartedly believe it.
As you sit down to plan out your website, start to map out your site pages and the content on those pages with these key elements in mind.
Want an affordable tool that will help make planning out your website even easier to help you focus on getting a return on your investment? Check out my interactive DIY Website Planning Workbook to help you fast track your website from planning to launch!
Need help putting together a website strategy and getting ROI from your website? Shoot me a message here.
I help female entrepreneurs and business owners create brands that command the spotlight. I love working with women to help them create beautiful, one-of-a-kind brands that give them the confidence to take their business to the next level and get them seriously noticed. I’ve worked with coaches, authors, influencers… you name it, and I bet I can help you too.
