You've probably never asked, "How do these websites work so well?!" and rightfully so, a website that functions well and looks beautiful is set-up so you don't think about what you're doing. You just flow through it perfectly!
Now a website that doesn't deliver what you need right from the start, you didn't think, "why isn't this designed better?!" - you just left it.
Seriously, when you visit a website, it's not about noticing the hard work and details a business owner has included or how it didn't include those things. It all comes down to what websites visitors need.
If you have a website already or are looking to build one, create something that meets your visitor's needs as well as yours as a business owner with these small steps!
1. It's Not Fun, But It's Legal
Don't click away yet! We're starting with the boring stuff to get it out of the way. If you are collecting information of ANY sort from Google Tracking, Facebook Pixel, first name, email - something as small as getting newsletter subscribers you need a Privacy Policy.
In the US you are legally obligated to have a Privacy Policy if you collect ANY data from website visitors and the same goes for EU residents, it’s just a little bit more intense with GDPR.
So number one - Privacy Policy. The second legal thing you don’t need to have, but you want to have to protect yourself is Terms + Conditions. This is how you legally state everything on your website is content you own, from your logo to your latest blog post.
Now, I am not a lawyer, so this should not be your end all be all of legal information, there is 100% more you should have and I’ll share in the description where to find more information about that.
2. Know What You Want
Before you get website visitors or even start building a website, you have to know what you want it to do!
This will drive your entire website set-up. If you’re not sure what I mean by that, head to our video “How Many Funnels Do I Need?” where I walk through not only the funnels you need, but how you connect your website to your end goals.
So you have your goals, what action you want your website to drive, now ask yourself - what conversation do you typically have with new leads/customers?
Your website is a guided conversation. It’s taking those FAQs, the questions you're always being asked and answering them before a new website visitor can even ask.
Websites are about how the visitor uses it, not just about looking pretty.
Think about your kitchen. What do you love about it? What do you hate? What do you dream about having?
The first thing you think about it how your kitchen can be more functional for your needs. Second, you think about how it looks.
Your website is all about the conversation and action, what it looks like is the icing on the cake. Literally.
3. What Are You Being Asked?
What question are visitors going to have? What question do you want them to ask? What action are you guiding them to take? This is what is going to make up your website. This is what you need on your website!
Here's how you figure out what this is. Take out a piece of paper (or maybe post-its) and write out the questions and answers you commonly work through with people. Group these questions by general topic. These are your website pages!
For example, if I'm creating a website for a bakery, I commonly get questions about:
- How to order
- What my prices are
- What cake flavors I offer
- What kind of cakes I make
- How many people can eat different sized cakes
- What cookies I sell
- How far in advance I need orders placed
- If I deliver orders
- What ingredients I use
I don't need a different page for each of these questions, I also don't want to answer each of these on my homepage. Here is how I would break it up:
- Pricing page:
- What my prices are
- How to order
- If I deliver orders
- How far in advance I need orders placed
- Cake page:
- What cake flavors I offer
- What kind of cakes I make
- How many people can eat different sized cakes
- What my typical ingredients are
- Cookies page:
- What cookies I sell
- What ingredients my cookies typically contain
This helps you figure out what pages you need and don't need and even what content needs to be on those pages. This will also help you frame your homepage.
Your homepage needs to take pieces of these other pages to funnel people to them. It also needs to guide people to your main goal. For this bakery, they prefer to sell cakes. It brings in more money and is more efficient for their skills and space. So they would want to focus the homepage on showcasing previous cakes, having a special treat for any occasion, and making it easy to see how the website visitors' needs can be met with a cake from this baker!
Now it's your turn. Don't look at competitors, don't have a page because everyone else does - what does your audience need from you?
Let me know in the comments below how many pages your website needs and what they are. If you have any questions or need guidance, don't hesitate to ask!