While we approach every website with strategy that takes the unique brand, images, and copy of our clients into account, the number one goal our clients ask for is to have a website that converts. Making sure your website, your number one tool in your business, is designed for conversion is crucial to building your income. Your website is your best salesperson. It’s always available and showcases you in your best light.
When you build your website, educating the visitor should be your top priority. What do they need to know to reach out confidently? What will build trust so they can buy your product or course? You want your ideal audience to connect with you and buy from you, but you need to make sure you’re building trust. There are steps to take to make sure your website will convert before you ever design one section, header, or footer.
Intention
First, you want to be intentional when creating your website. Conversion is all about building trust and wowing the visitor. You want them to feel confident that you are the answer to their pain points.
First, you want to write out your goals for the site. Conversion of course is one, but what specifically? Possible outcomes can be an inquiry, a purchase of a product or course, listening to your podcast, reading your blog, or subscribing to your newsletter. Try and choose the top 3 goals you want to achieve and next you want to motivate the visitor to follow a path to complete those tasks.
Call-to-actions can guide the visitor through the site so that they are able to see everything they need to know before taking action. Your messaging will be crucial in communicating your value. Which leads us to…
Copy
The biggest tip I can give you right now is this: you absolutely need to write your copy before you design anything. Your copy, even more than your brand or images, will drive most of your design decisions, especially layouts. The messaging you absolutely need to focus on conversion will even shape things like your header, footer, the hierarchy of your font styles, and the sections on your pages.
You wanna map out what you need to say so that the visitor on your site understand what you do, who for, and how you do so in your own unique way. Here’s some examples of pages most business owners will have and what should definitely be included.
Homepage
- Your mission statement or tagline so as soon as someone lands on your site, they know what makes you stand out and how valuable you are
- An intro to you and your business by posting a quick bio with a photo of you and a button to your about page
- An overview of what else you offer that leads to other places on your site, like talking about your services, highlighting your best selling products, and your best content
About Page
Got a bonus post for you breaking down one of the hardest pages to create on your website. Find out how to create the perfect about page.
Services Page
- Describe what specific services you offer, focusing on the value you are providing to those that book you
- Share your process, broken down into easy to decipher steps, to show your expertise and demystify what it’s like to work with you
- Who is your ideal client? Share what you know about them! People that connect to those traits will feel seen and connect with you
- Answer your most frequently asked questions to help people overcome any obstacle they may have in booking you
Visuals
Now that you have solid copy that will communicate the value you provide and how you solve your audience’s problems, you’re ready to focus on visuals. Your visual brand and photography can make or break your site. You can have the most amazing strategy and copy but if your site’s design doesn’t build trust, you won’t be seen as an expert.
A solid, intentional brand will have many components. You’ll have multiple logos, a color palette, and a font library. Illustrations and graphics are a bonus that can add a lot of personality. Your visual brand should be what it’d be like to explore a physical storefront for your business. You’re inviting people into your business experience.
For your photography, make sure to have varied details like orientation, how zoomed in elements are, and negative space to add variety. We highly suggest hiring a brand photographer to truly capture the vision of your business, but amazing headshots and stock can get you started! Check out our favorites, free and paid, here.
Your Website Platform
Make sure you are on the best website platform for your needs. There’s a lot of passionate preferences out there, but you want to make sure you can grow your site. We have a post that covers all the best options and when to use them. Your secret weapon is if you’re able to maintain it yourself. Then you can grow at your own pace and not need more money every time you want to make your site current. An up to date site will draw high quality clients.
Looking for an expert to build a custom, conversion-focused website for your business? Make sure you’re ready to book by preparing before hiring a website designer or if you’re ready, let’s chat!
