4 Steps to Setting Up a Strategy for Your Website
You’ve heard me talk about why you need a solid strategy for your social media accounts, but I haven’t talked about your website strategy… at least not much… yet. One of the biggest mistakes I see when people start designing their website is they completely skip over the strategy part. And sometimes—it’s super clear when someone didn’t have a strategy when they started their website…
I have said this before… yes, the design of your website is important. You need to be keeping your Ideal Client in mind when you’re designing your website, thinking through what he/she would want to look at. But there’s SO MUCH MORE that’s also important. Your website copy. Your business goals. Your customer journey through your website.
If your website isn’t actually turning your visitors into paying customers or clients, it’s not doing its job. Your website is something you invest in, so you want to make sure that the investment is paying off.
If you haven’t given your website a good audit in awhile, be sure to do that first. I wrote a whole blog post about that and even included a free downloadable workbook/checklist to walk you through it step-by-step so be sure to check that out.
But today I want to talk to you about your actual website strategy. Let’s dive in.
Set your website goals.
Yeah, I know. I talk about goals a lot, but if you don’t have some sort of end-game in mind, you might risk going about things all willy-nilly (<yep, used that silly word).
To figure out the goals you have for your website, ask yourself these questions:
What do I want my website visitors to do?
What do I want my visitors to feel when they’re on my website?
What is my Ideal Client looking for when he/she is on my website? Location? Hours? Parking? Services? Price points? Products? Portfolio? Education? Contact Info?
Then write a goal for your website. Some popular website goals are:
Grow my email list.
Sell my products/services.
Increase my podcast or YouTube subscribers.
Build a community/following.
Filter out people who aren’t going to be a good fit for my services/program.
Enroll new members in my course/club/program.
Educate my visitors and establish myself as an authority in my niche.
You might have more than one goal. That’s fine! Just make sure you have at least one goal written down.
Write your copy.
Trust me when I tell you that designing your website will be so much easier if you write the copy first. The copy is your message. It’s the words on your website. IT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF YOUR WEBSITE. You have to say the right things to the right person in the right way in order to make an impact on your Ideal Client. You cannot just throw together paragraphs and hope for the best. You’ve got to address your Ideal Client’s needs and wants and show them how you can help them. If you aren’t the best at writing, then hire a copywriter.
For more on why your copy should come before your website design, read this.
(And side note, while we’re talking about it… you need a clear picture of your Brand Messaging before you write your copy. Not sure what I’m talking about? Here’s Why Your Brand Messaging Should Come Before Your Copy.)
Design your website.
Once you have your copy in hand (and if you hired a copywriter, more than likely he/she wireframed out the copy so you can see how your copy will be most effective if laid out a certain way on your website), then start designing your website! Think about the pages you want your Ideal Client to visit and what order you want him/her to visit them in (Customer Journey). Choose your colors (hopefully connected and aligned with your brand).
And if you’re staring at this thinking, “Uh… how do I start designing my website?”...then consider hiring a website designer.
Or, if you’re staring at this thinking, “I already have a website. Do I need to start from scratch?” Maybe. Depends on what you’ve got right now. Does it align with your goals and copy? Can you edit and give your website a little refresh? Or does it make more sense to just start over?
Develop your website.
Now start putting your copy in your design. Set up the functionality. Make sure your site is secure. Connect your social media. Make sure all links work. Make sure your images are all optimized for SEO. Actually, make sure your entire website is optimized for SEO so Google can find you. Set up Google Analytics and submit your site to Google Search Console. This is honestly the hardest, most technical part of your website strategy and development, so unless you’re super tech-savvy and unless you have extra time on your hands outside of your normal day-to-day business operations, then look into hiring a web designer.
There you go! Hopefully, you have a better idea of how to set up a solid website strategy for your business now. Whether you’re a photographer, business coach, lifestyle brand, real estate agent or brokerage, event planner, doctor, dentist, or lawyer… you know as well as I do that we live in an online world, and that if you are paying for a website, then you need to make sure it’s helping to pay you.
If you are interested in working with a Squarespace Web Designer and Copywriter, I would love nothing more than to chat to see if we’re a good fit for each other!
