A lot of people want a website that is beautiful, modern, has all the bells and whistles, but what about a website that works? Like really works? Before thinking of getting a website or redoing your current website, you really have to think about your goal with the website. B2B marketers need to be filling your funnel with qualified leads, moving them along the funnel, and making sure there is not a leak where leads just fall out and the business never grows. B2C marketers need customers and fans, people loving their brand, buying their product and acting as evangelists for you. So what role does your website play in all of this? It can play a bigger role than you think.
Drive Traffic
The first thing your website has to do is drive traffic. People need to be able to find you when they are looking for what you are selling. To drive traffic, your website needs good Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. In a nutshell, Google wants people to find what they are looking for, so as long as you tell Google that you are what they are looking for, you will rank in Google search and people will find your website. It’s not quite that simple, but that is the jist. Have you ever had someone email you and say “we can get you ranking on the first page of Google for just $50 a month!” Ya… they are lying. Google knows all of the tricks of the trade now and wants real, genuine content. No more millions of bad back-links or key words stuffed into places they don’t belong. You have to spend a lot of timing creating content that actual people will find helpful, and search engines can read.
Educate Your Audience
Once someone finds your website, you want them to be able to see right away what you are all about. Your message should be clear, concise, and immediately visible. Are you selling something? You should have a big banner image or slideshow with lifestyle images focused on what you sell. Are you a service based company? Start with having 3-4 easy to understand points about what differentiates you. You only have a few seconds when someone lands on your website to get their attention, make your homepage stand out from the crowd and quickly and easily convey your key value proposition.
Convert!
Great! Now that you have their attention, it is time to convert. What do you want them to do? Buy something? Give you their email and phone number to set up an appointment? Make sure you have a call to action on every page, and that it is big, easily visible and easy to understand. You don’t want any confusion when it comes to telling people what you want them to do.
I know this is an oversimplification, but a website, no matter what your business, should do these 3 things:
Drive traffic
Educate your audience
Convert!
As long as you have these 3 elements, the rest of your website is really about aesthetics and branding. Reiterating who you are and what you are about. So next time you consider a redesign or if you are getting a website for the first time, instead of thinking about what colors you like or what design elements you find fun, really spend time thinking about who you want to find you, what you want to tell them and what you want them to do. If you know these three things, you will be able to create an effective website that will drive your business instead of drain your bank account