In 2019 and beyond, it’s crucial for even a new business to have a website.
AND when you’re just starting out, it’s hard to invest in a full custom website + strategy.
It’s even a conversation that comes up in many of my early discovery sessions with clients.
Once we start talking about target audience, ICA (ideal client avatar), what your audience struggles with, what they want to learn from you, and how you’re uniquely positioned to help, it oftentimes becomes clear that instead of investing in a custom design right now, it’s more valuable for you to get something up fast that will help answers those questions with confidence and clarity.
Sometimes the DIY route is exactly the road you need to take to start to test out your audience, build your email list, and begin to attract the kinds of clients you think you most want to work with.
I’ve seen it all when it comes to DIY websites. Wix. GoDaddy. Weebly. Various answers from hosting companies.
Here’s my biggest issue with them: they are a one size fits all approach.
And your business, Beautiful, is anything but that.
There are simple elements that go into shaping a digital strategy that when executed together, can help your website work for you even when you’re not there. Now ladies, isn’t THAT the goal?
In less than two weeks I’m unveiling my newest offer. A digital course where I’m going to teach you how to DIY a linger worthy website built on the Wordpress platform. I”m going to be your guide and even offer monthly zoom calls where we’ll get down and dirty with all your questions about building a successful online business.
I’m passionate about making sure you have access to a DIY answer that blends strategy WITH design.
This is going to be perfect for you if you need help committing to content, DIYing your way to a digital strategy, and launching it live in record time.
If you want to get on the early access list for the minute I’m ready to welcome students, you can add your name below.
In the meantime, I want to highlight the top 3 mistakes you want to make sure you avoid on your website.
My hunches as to the reasons I see them so frequently include:
- They may be DIY
- It’s possible the client was adamant that every single bit of information needed to be on the website and the designer didn’t point out why that might be a mistake
- It’s possible the business owner simply has not developed a clear directional strategy, yet.
While a beautiful and cohesive design is nice, your website needs to function well and help you bring in clients and make money. That’s what it’s there for, right?
These are the three things that I see regularly that are commonly overlooked:
- Too many navigation menu items. If you have more than five or six menu items at the top of your website, your visitors won’t know where to go first. AND you run the risk of them clicking on one that doesn’t give them the answer they were looking for and they end up leaving even though you may have JUST THE THING they need to move forward! Keep it clear, not clever. Make it easy for them to intuitively find what they need. You can still have 15 (or 30) different pages on your website, but trust me when I tell you clients will be completely overwhelmed with that many choices.
- Too many Calls To Action (CTA’s) on each page (and in particular your home page). If you don’t commit to a primary goal for your home page and only have your CTA’s serve that goal, your likelihood of converting browsers to buyers goes down exponentially. If, after every section or within a body of text, you’re linking to a different page or post on your website, you’re taking your audience away from the one thing that will help them the most! Yes, some people will need to peruse your website and follow any breadcrumbs you leave for them to learn more about you and your work. More importantly, if you want your online business to succeed, you need to be able to turn this cold lead in a nurtured one. Taking them on a “choose your own adventure tour” won’t do that. Eventually they’ll get bored and leave.
- No new content on your home page. The google bots are constantly scanning your pages and posts for relevant data to serve up to their millions of queries. By having static content on your website that NEVER is updated, you’ll continue to stay where you’re at in search results. If you want to make a move and improve your organic SEO, start publishing a blog post weekly and have that content automatically updated on your home page.
The good news is that all three of these things are easy to fix.
If you’d like my help, please reach out. I’m happy to schedule a free 20 minute call to go over your goals and offer up some easy solutions based on your budget.
