Website Strategy: How to Build a Website that serves your ‘Why’
It is well known that a website can be your best salesman, even when you sleep.
There is no doubt it is beneficial to your business. However, in some cases, a website can do more harm than good.
If your website doesn’t consider your business and marketing, then it will not be in alignment with your purpose. It will not help you pursue your goals, and even worse, it may prevent you from growing.
Then, what makes a good website?
What you need is a website that is built with intention. A website that considers all the different aspects of your business and marketing and is planned, strategized, and designed around these elements.
That’s one of the reasons why building a new site can raise heart rates.
Where the heck should you start?
There are so many moving parts, it can be difficult to know where to begin or even how to begin planning out your website strategy.
Let’s look at what a website strategy is, why you need one, and how you can develop one in simple steps.
What is a Website Strategy?
It’s not enough for your website to look pretty. It also needs to successfully make your visitor identify themselves as your soulmate clients -or not. Then, it needs to make them feel you are holding their hands to drive them through a planned path that leads them to take steps toward working with you.
That plan is what Website Strategy is.
This strategy is the director of all decisions made during the Website Building process and defines the layout, content, and path we want to create.
It considers your business objectives and then outlines the ways your website can align with those plans to actively help you reach your goals.
It Includes:
- A definition of your Business: your Business’s story, your Message, your Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values. Short and Long term goals.
- Close Identification of your visitor: Who will visit the site? What message and tone will you use to talk to them? How will you bring them to visit your site?
- Website Purpose: What are the goals of your website? How will the website help you reach your business goal? What do you want people to know when they visit your site? What do you want them to do? What are the steps to move forward in working with you?
- Long-term Goals: What are your business’s long-term goals? How will the website help you reach those goals?
The importance of your Purpose and Objectives
Without understanding what you want to accomplish you could end up building the wrong website altogether.
What could be the result? a website that doesn’t reflect all the hard work you have previously done for your marketing and business. It could result in a website with a lack of focus, lack of cohesiveness, lack of information, or a messy overwhelming site with an excess of information.
Being clear on your goals, and defining them beforehand helps you make the right decisions on what your website needs to be/contain/do in order for you to meet those goals.
Develop your Website Strategy
It doesn’t exist something like a strict list of steps to follow to have a strategy. However, whether you are starting a new website or updating an existing site, here are some things to consider that could guide you in developing one.
- Business: What you do, your story, your branding, Message, Purpose, Short and Long term goals, Mission, Vission Values. Your industry and competition (because sure we all want to stand out!).
- Marketing: What resources do you currently use and what is your marketing plan.
- Client: This is part of your business work, but as it is essential for your success, I am including it as a separate item. You need to know EVERYTHING about who will be visiting your site. What message do you want to deliver?
- Your website: What is your website goal? how will you measure the success? What do you want people to know as soon as they visit your site? what do you want them to do next? What images, text, and media resources do you already have? What channels will you use to bring visitors to your site?
Once you have all of these aspects clear, make sure you write them all down. For more details, Download the fillable Website Strategy workbook. It will help you stretch and challenge your ideas. It will also help you as a guide for not to lose the north once you are creating your strategy.
Now you are ready to start planning your site. Outline the pages your website will need and plan the content of each page following the path you want your visitors to follow. This seems like a small step but is essential.
Make sure you take the time to set clear and relevant goals, so you can track your progress while you execute your website strategy.
Are you ready to start working on your website strategy? Download the Website Strategy workbook and let me know how you go!
