If you have a website, you should be proud of it. It should not only reflect your brand, but it should really work for you. Do you have a site that looks like it came out of the 80’s? Is your website built with Flash? Did you 13 year old niece build your site when she took “Web Design” in high school?
Your website is often the first impression a potential customer has with your business. And as they say, you don’t get a second chance at that. People make snap decisions about your website based on looks alone.
Have a Website You Are Proud of!
You may have the most amazing content on the web, but if your site looks out-dated or won’t load properly on a mobile device, your website is a liability for your business and not an asset.
So you need to have a website that works for you and not against you. You need a website that you can be proud of. You need a website that makes a good first impression and can lead visitors into a marketing funnel that builds your brand and your business.
In my opinion, here are three important factors that go into having a website that you can be proud of. From design to function, you need to make sure your website has these features.
It’s About the User
This is arguably the most important piece of advice I can give anyone about their website. It’s about the USER! It’s not about you. It is about making sure your website serves the needs of your customers or clients.
As you have worked on your business, you have already identified your ideal customer. You know what she is like. You know her background, her expectations. You are very aware of what makes her happy or sad. You know what her professional goals are and how she plans to achieve them. You have developed a working idea of your ideal customer.
When you look at your website, it needs to be something that she will connect with. It really doesn’t matter what you like or want. It really needs to be about your customer or client. Do they tend to prefer blue over pink? Do they like script font or blocky fonts? Do they respond well to images or list?
Your website must be designed with your clients in mind. Think about what will motivate them to respond to your call to action and build a site around those motivations.
If your ideal customer is a trendy, business professional, who drives a Mercedes and drinks Starbucks every morning, your website better not look like this.
Web design is about your customer. You must never forget who you are trying to reach and what will motivate, inspire, prompt or engage with your ideal customer. If you ever forget this fact and design for yourself, you will loose in the online business.
It’s About Conversion
A website that looks great but doesn’t convert visitors to customers, it not working for you. You have to work through the processes that move a site visitor to a customer.
The sales funnel can really be tied to any process or event. If you are trying to build an email list (and you better be trying to build a list if you want to build your business), then you need a funnel process that moves people onto your list.
- Get People to Your Website
- Turn Visitors into Leads
- Convert Leads into Customers
- Build Loyalty and Referrals
This is a constant process that involves testing and tweaking. You should be connected with Google Analytics or something similar so you can measure the results of your efforts and adjust accordingly. Test, Observe, Repeat. Build a funnel that is getting better and better at conversion.
It’s About Good Content
The web is still about content. Design is Queen, Content is King.
A website design may get a customer to linger on the page long enough to read a sentence, but the content is what keeps them around. The most beautifully designed website will be a failure if you have terrible, low quality content.
You need to have content that provides value to your visitors. It needs to teach, train, inspire, motivate, or educate in order to have meaning and value.
If you know your audience, you know what questions they are asking. You should know their struggles. You should know how to help. And this should be the basis of your content.
- Written blog
- Audio podcast
- Video blogs
There are many different kinds of content you can generate. Just make sure it is quality and that it is meeting your ideal customers needs.
It’s Your Turn
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?
In the comments below, tell me what you think the three most important factors for a good website.
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