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Today, we’re going to be touching on the subject of websites and if they actually are productive.

Are they generating leads and sales? Is your website optimized for conversions? What I mean is, is your website set up so that you can get more clients?

I’ve seen a lot of websites over my digital marketing career. I’m shocked by how many are just really bad, just to put it bluntly, that actually don’t do anything.

What is the purpose of your website? The purpose of your website is to get more clients. That’s what we’re going to be talking about today.

Is your website set up for attracting more clients?

As I mentioned, my question to you is, is your website set up for attracting more clients? If you have a business, you need a website.

In this day and age if you don’t have a website, you pretty much don’t exist.

If you are in the…

  • retreat and events business
  • health and wellness industry
  • a marketing or website professional
  • or a consultant or coach

…you need a website.

There’s no negotiating about it, but what type of website is very, very important so that you can actually generate some income from it.

Your website is your most powerful business tool that you have. It shocks me that people don’t spend enough time on this and actually get it really, really top notch that really works for you.

Make sure you dedicate the time creating a website that is a lead generating machine.

Your website, ultimately, is your visual doorway to your business and should reflect your values and what solutions you provide to your ideal client.

Your conversion optimised website will attract new clients.

I wanted to go over what a conversion optimized website looks like.

This kind of website will attract new clients on an ongoing basis. That’s what you want. You want new clients constantly coming in.

So that you can attract these new clients, your website needs the following:

  • Easy navigation. When someone lands on your website. Where do they go? How do they contact you as quickly as possible? You don’t want them to get lost because people don’t have patience and they will just leave your website.  Eliminate unnecessary elements. Don’t clutter your menu, for example. Just keep it very, very clear such as your home link, a little bit about you, what services you provide and contact. That’s it. Blogs, articles and so on can be on sub menus, but let’s just keep your initial menu clean and with a purpose to drive people to contact you.

  • I recommend having only one visible call to action. A call to action makes somebody do something. I’ve seen websites that have lots of different call to actions. The user arrives and they actually have no idea what to even do. If you want to be generating your list, make sure that your call to action has got the download now or yes, I want it button. If it’s just to generate leads and contacts then, have a very clear contact, contact us button, contact us. Send an inquiry. Just make sure it’s one that you choose and everything that you do drives people to this call to action.
  • Be clear about what value you provide with a very compelling header and subtitle. That’s what people see when they first arrive on your website. It’s a header which states clearly what you do and a subheading stating who is this for. Make it easy for them.

People don’t have hours to figure out what you actually do.

Try the 10-second rule. Take your laptop (yes it’s a bit awkward, but it’s definitely quite interesting to see) to a coffee shop and just speak to, a stranger and say, “Would you mind if I just show you my website for 10 seconds and then tell me what my website and business is about?” Most people will say, “Absolutely fine. Yes, I’ll do that.” You’ll be really interested to know if a complete stranger actually knows what you’re doing from your first page on your website. Give it a go. I’ve tried it. It’s quite hilarious.

  • Then outline your features and benefits. Yes, you can list all the great things that you do. That’s lovely, but from a user’s point of view, they want to know what can THEY get out of it. What are the benefits to them? Focus on that, really, as much as possible instead of blowing your own horn, okay? What can you help your user with? What will they get out of working with you?
  • Have a sign up form to grow your list. Growing your community and your followers is really one of the basics that you should be doing on a constant basis to get people to get to know you, to follow you. It’s ultimately easier to sell to those people that already have had some contact with you than if you just cold-sell to them, okay?

A freebie would be fantastic if you can get them to download that. They give you their email address and in exchange you give them the free download. Then they’re in your pipeline. They are in your email list and then you can work with it.

I would definitely recommend every, every company, every small business to have a freebie that you can get email addresses from.

  • Use images and visuals that build trust and engagement. Pictures of people feeling happy from the result of your services. Test this out. You could try where people are upset and angry and are frustrated with their issue and then your solution makes them happy. Use really inviting images, happy. People say, “I actually want to feel that way and if I hire this business I can feel the same.” Images are very, very important.
  • Lastly, include testimonials or any other social proofs. Testimonials from your Facebook page, your Google My Business page, all of these support your solution and your business in terms of helping the user. Include them in your website.

Anatomy of a website that converts

I’ve done a little bit of a diagram of what a converting website looks like just so you can have some visual element, not just my long lists.

This is HubSpot. It’s a well known CRM that is very clear with what they actually sell. Their website is geared purely for conversions.

Easy and clean navigation

As you can see at the top, we’ve got easy and clean navigation. The little arrows, mean there’s more menu things underneath those, but they have tried to reduce it to the most important things.

So pricing. Definitely, that’s what people want to know very, very quickly.

Some people choose not to show pricing. That’s your personal choice and your strategy, but in this case, because they are competing on price a lot with other CRM companies, they put it there in the forefront.

Resources, that would be blogs, recommended tools, all those kinds of things, partners and about.

Contrasting colours

Then you’ve got contrasting colors. Colors that actually make your content stand out. Because a lot of times, I’ve seen very dark text on a dark background. People just can’t read it. Make sure you have that contrast here. They’ve used a pinky orange color with white. The white jumps out. Make sure you’re using contrasting colors in your website design.

Hero image and visual elements

The hero image is that main image that you see. In this case, it’s a lady with glasses and a space helmet, and other visual elements need to be relatable.

The user that you are attracting, if it’s maybe only women, don’t use men in your pictures. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Create that connection with people with your imagery.

Visible contact details

Also, very important, which I’ve seen people do, is they hide the contact details. If you want people to call you to email you, to WhatsApp you, there’s now plugins you can use as well. Make sure it is easy for them to find. In this case, HubSpot has put the telephone number right at the top. That will be on every single page that you navigate on their websites. You’ll never lose it. It’s easy for you to contact them.

Strong recognisable logo

Then strong, recognisable logo. Okay. HubSpot is a big brand, but even your logo should be nice and clean and on every single page in the same place. This very professional so that people get to know your brand and recognize you.

Good copy that speaks to your audience

In this instance, they’ve got a headline called, All Systems Grow. Implying they’re going to grow your business through systems.

Then they’ve got a subtitle which gives a little bit more explanation, which is software to fuel your growth and build deeper relationships from the first hello to happy customers and beyond. Very nice and clean. I feel I know what they are selling in this instance.

Don’t overcomplicate it. Don’t give a lot of information right at the beginning. What you see here is what you see above the fold. That’s before people start scrolling. Make it very clear what you are selling.

Call to action above the fold

Lastly, make sure that your call to action in this case is, get HubSpot for free is above the fold.

People don’t have to look for how to contact you, how to download your freebie. It’s all there at first glance.

Conclusion

That’s basically the anatomy of a website that converts. Have a look at your website and see how you could improve. Clean it up. Everything that you do on your website, keep in mind, is this helping my ideal client to contact me to actually create that dialogue or is it hindering? Is it too cluttered? Is there too much information? Have a look and see what you think.

I would love to hear your thoughts on your own website. Even post your website link in the comments. It would be great to see what you are working with.

Websites that convert is a smart digital marketing strategy that I’ve put together in my free download. I have 10 digital marketing strategies that will help you rapidly grow your small business. If you haven’t already, I would recommend that you download it. It’s for free.

It really gives you some tips of what you could do so that your business is generating more followers and more clients at the end of the day.  I’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.