Learn the Actual Power of a Website
(and the mistakes/biggest missed opportunities)
Announcing the Web Strategy Collective!
Your Business Deserves Exceptional Website + Tech Experts. That’s why I helped create this phenomenal group of Web Designers, Developers, Strategists and Operations Specialists you can trust who genuinely care about your business.
Kate says… Welcome!!
Hi, everyone. Welcome to the first video of the web strategy collective. We are a group of web designers, web strategists and operations specialists, specifically around operations and programs that help support your business. And we are super excited to bring you this new series where we talk about relevant topics related to the website and business hemisphere. And we all are interested in helping people elevate their businesses, and more easily reach their business goals. So without further ado, I'll have Lauren kick us off.
Lauren says… I’m an SEO Web Designer!!
Lauren Newton, and I'm a web designer with an eye for SEO. I help small businesses with their online presence by increasing website traffic and boosting conversion rates, ultimately turning more visitors into loyal customers.
LaShae says… I’m a Tech & Automations Specialist!
Hi, I’m LaShae Dorsey and I help consultant coaches and B2B business owners level up, set up and tidy up the tech behind the scenes for their business. From Automation to support. I help you find love and use the tech that works best for you and how you work.
Lisa says… I’m a Personal Development Website & Branding Designer!
And Lisa, to learn from Lisa Marie creative and I love to work with mission driven personal development, and wellness coaches and entrepreneurs who feel called to make an impact in the lives of others in some small or significant way, and ultimately impacted the world. I designed websites and branding that is effective and strategic and empowers my clients to connect with their audience, make an impact and scale their business.
Kate says… I’m a Website Designer for Health & Wellness Entrepreneurs!
I'm Kate Newnham, from up designs and I really enjoy working with health and wellness entrepreneurs who want to make a difference. They're like fired up, they have a bigger mission to help people in the world. And they need a website that can that is you know, all inspiring, memorable, strategic and can get them to where they need to go and help them achieve their business goals. And they have this tremendous value. And I just want to make sure their website reflects that.
Kate says… The power of a website is real.
Without further ado, our first topic for this video series is The Power of your Website. Often, people think that the website is like, oh, a secondary thought. What we really want to emphasize is that there's power there. And we've seen a lot of websites!
We want to share, from each of our perspectives, what are some common mistakes that you think could help people elevate their business?
Lauren says… The Messaging in your Website Header can Make or Break Conversions.
It’s the messaging of the website when you first land on it.
Is the homepage messaging really speaking to your target audience?
Is it really describing what you're doing?
Does it really convey that very quickly and efficiently, without confusion?
I often see that my clients have really confusing messaging that might not explain what they do. That can be part of the reason why they're not seeing people stay on their website for very long, or converting. My perspective is from SEO.
I can get people to a website, but whether they convert or not is a different question. Lne of the first things people see is that messaging above your fold on your homepage, and that can really make or break conversions.
Kate says… A Confused Mind Doesn’t Buy. No Matter how intelligent you Are, Clarity Matters.
1,000% agree. I’ve always heard that a confused mind doesn't buy. And the other thing I learned from Donald Miller, who is a huge messaging guy. Basically, he says that no matter how intelligent you are, you want your visitors to use as few brain calories as possible, when they’re reading a website header, so when they first get to your site, if they have to use any more than a certain amount of calories, they'll just leave. And it's a really small amount. So keep that in mind. I see that mistake quite a bit.
Lisa says… Talk Less about YOU and More about the Results You Get for Clients.
I see the mistake of people talking about their accolades and their credentials, and, you know, this is what I do and instead of talking about the client and what you can do for them, so there's that and that like listing their, you know, their certificates and all that kind of stuff instead of the clients want to know what's in it for me and how can you help me so that just tweaking your messaging that way?
Also, have clear calls to actions, so the visitor always knows where to go and what to do.
LaShae says… Tell Visitors Your Solution, Up Front & Center.
When someone lands on your site, is there something for them to do? Is there a solution that you're offering them? Is there a download they can click on and get the answer or help understand why your solution is there.
From an operation standpoint, that message has to be front and center.
Kate says… People Trust Your Credentials & Clients More than You.
Absolutely, those first buttons are important.
What are you asking them to do?
Are you asking them to sign up for a freebie?
Are you asking them to learn more about you?
Are you asking them to sign up for a course?
What is the next step? You tell them. They don't guess.
The other thing with positioning that I was thinking about when you were talking is like making it about them. But in terms of the value that you bring, I also found that a lot of people hide their accolades, especially people who don't think they're impressive. They hide them on the either the bottom of the About page or Homepage.
The truth about human behavior is that when someone sees that you're attributed to a big brand, you’re immediately more impressive.
So no, the whole thing doesn't have to be about me, me, me, but we've helped people like blah, blah, blah, or here's some examples of our recent work, because then it shows they've helped those people. It’s human behavior that people are more likely to hire you when other people refer you, or have trusted you.
Lisa says… Case Studies Help Turn Visitors into Clients.
And they see themselves in those examples that you provide, right? They may see something that's similar to what they're offering. Yeah, definitely those identifying aspects when someone lands on the site, where they can identify some part of what they are dealing with, or wanting to achieve whatever that is, for them.
Kate says… LaShae Knows Automation.
So, we’ve talked about clear messaging, buttons, telling them what to do like with lead magnets. I know you do a lot of automation, LaShae, do you want to talk at all about nurture sequences to keep visitors on the hook to help turn them into clients, since 95% don't buy the first time?
LaShae says… Nurture Sequences are for Turtles (the 95% who don’t buy the 1st time)
Like you said Kate, 5% of people who land on your site, are going to take the action that you want them to take immediately. We call them rabbits. And then there are turtles.
So with a rabbit, they land on your site, see what they want, take action (either book you or schedule a call or buy your product, etc.)
So with the turtles, they land on your site and want more information before they take action.. So when we talk about those buttons, we lead them to that information. So if your button leads them to a lead magnet, when they get your email, it's not just, oh, here's your thing. It's an introduction to you. Then, it's a series of emails that talks about how you can help them. That helps them consume your lead magnet or helps them take the next step. They don’t respond right away.
So make sure all your operations work properly and keep them in your business message and flow.
Keeps them in your branding. I see that's a that's a big one that I that has driven me crazy for years. It's like okay, you've given me this wonderful thing here or this wonderful, beautiful site, and then you send me to a page that is black and white with three lines of text.
Wait, I just got called away. My kid did something. My pet did something.
That's where operations come in. That's part of the journey that your customer is taking with you when you're not there in front of them to hold their hand. The way that you do that is with your branding and brand name your excuse me, like, I know, Kate, Kate is Up Designs. When I see the hashtag #GouUp, I know that’s her.
Kate says… I Love Elevating my Clients.
Yes, #GoUp is a motto for my business, because I like to help elevate people and help them get to the next level. When I see something that I know can be improved cuz I can help them. It's like, oh, please let me help you. Ultimately, that's why I do this - to help people. I'm like a cheerleader for my clients. I think “Oh, you're so great. Let's make your website matches and people know.”
Lisa says… Set your Branding + Be Consistent.
And really, when we're talking about the power of a website, like LaShae's point about branding, somebody's website might be the first introduction to somebody's brand. Make sure it's not a missed opportunity to set your brand, then make sure that it's consistent through all the operation systems, the lead nurturing and the like. Getting it right is important, for sure.
Kate says… Lauren knows SEO.
In terms of SEO, Lauren, actually, I'm curious what you see are the biggest opportunities to improve website SEO that you feel like could get people to the next level?
Lauren says… A big part of SEO is Clear Messaging & Content.
I would say messaging. A big portion of SEO is making sure your content is good. Is your messaging clear? Because if it's clear to the user, and then it's clear to Google, if it's not clear to Google or the user, then you know, it's going to be very confusing. And Google is not going to know how to rank you. And what's cool about SEO is that the, like Google's trying to constantly improve to make sure it's serving like the best websites to the people who are asking the questions and Google and making sure that you're just you're not muddling the messaging (you're really clear with it), is probably the top thing you could do for your website.
I think a big thing for SEO is keeping people on your site, because the longer people are on your site, the longer Google notices that and they'll rank you better. So keeping people engaged on the website is important as well. So having them click to different pages and interact with your content, ultimately, like signing up for a lead magnet or contacting you, all of those things can really help Google rank you better just by keeping you on the site longer.
Also, make it easy for people to contact you.
Kate says… Keep Bounce Rates low (keep people on your site for as long as possible!)
That's helpful. Yeah, we want a low bounce rate.
Lisa says… Plan your Website Visitors’ Journey On Your Site.
When having a clear navigation and client journey that's fleshed out about beforehand, you can lead your clients where you want them to go.
Lauren says… Standard Website Conventions are Important for SEO.
Keeping to convention is important too. Obviously, as web designers, we want to be creative and come up with different ideas. But following convention by having your navigation at the top of the page and having your basic pages, from an SEO perspective, is huge.
And, from a customer journey perspective, people want to learn more about you on a page called “About” (not super random that kind of hard to interpret) and not spending all those brain calories like Kate was talking about, really helps.
Kate says… Beware of getting too clever or fancy.
Don't get too clever. A lot of people like to get clever. I've seen it a lot in the tech industry where people have creative titles in their business roles. I read a couple of studies that have shown that it's actually not a good idea to do that because people don't want to try to figure out what you are or what you do. They want to understand what you do and speak like you speak. So be very, very clear about what you do. Don't get too fancy. You can have a unique point of view, but stick to the talking points.
Lisa says… Clean, simple and impactful designs work best!
From a design standpoint, if your design and layout is super cluttery and not clean and easy to follow, it’s tough. People just want to put so much information into such a little amount of space, or they use colors that don't resonate with people or don't match what it is that you're trying to do. You know, like color theory is something that you need to think about in advance and how those colors bring forth emotions and people to get them to stay on your site, right or leave.
Kate says… Use Visual Marketing Techniques to Become Memorable.
For example, if you're trying to portray an exciting brand, don't use beige. How I approach design work is with something called Visual Marketing. The idea is that you're more memorable when you inspire people.
So if you have a flat website that doesn't evoke any emotion, that’s not optimal.
If the photography (even if it’s beautiful) doesn't match the copy, it’s not helping people comprehend the content. Are you using icons that help people understand what you're saying?
Some people just throw stuff on their website. I encourage people to use visuals so their visitors can more easily comprehend and remember them, which happens more when imagery is impactful and supports the copy.
That’s a skill that gets lost a lot, because people again, underestimate the power of the website, in doing those types of things, and you have got to be memorable. You know when you’ve visited a site, whether it ingrains or not. I remember sites I saw months ago, so if you want people to remember you, there has to be a level of impact beyond just a quick scan and leaving. Otherwise, it’s a waste.
From a design perspective and a comprehension perspective, because we don't have that much time to figure your business out.
LaShae says… Save Visitors Time with a Clear & Consistent Flow.
Speaking of time to optimizing your site, most people are not coming and typing in your domain name into their browser, but rather, they're clicking a link from somewhere. When they arrive, they're expecting that site to load quickly. So if you've got all these heavy images, or you've got big blocks of text, that’s not good. Try to make it quick and easy. To Lisa's point, don’t put a whole bunch of things in your face. Whatever page they land on, make it relevant to whatever they just clicked.
So if you're overseeing your social and you're talking about your About page, don't send them to your homepage.
Don’t make your user work!
Lisa says… Clear Website Headings are Helpful.
That's where clear, properly written headings are helpful.
Kate says… People don’t read Small Copy.
Have headings that help lead you down the page and have them explain what the paragraph says without you having to read the paragraph.
Lisa says… Make your Site Mobile Friendly!
I've seen a lot of sites that look great on a laptop, but as soon as you get it on your phone, it's hard to read or the text is too small. Or, there are things moving and jumping around that don't look good on mobile. You always have to check that out first.
Kate says… Around 50% of your Audience is on Mobile.
You read my mind, I was just gonna say mobile as the last sign off. Yeah. 100%. And actually, when it comes to I even made this mistake, and shared about this, there was a button that got so I think like the the call to action button on my mobile site was hiding underneath, this overlay I had that worked on desktop, but not on mobile, and I that's what I do! I caught it, but that kind of thing happens all the time.
And, at least half the people are looking on your mobile site, at least, if not more.
This has been great. Thank you all so much! And this is just the beginning of a series, so we hope this was helpful! See you next time!
