Hey there busy entrepreneur! Do you want to launch a virtual storefront & home for your brand? Fantastic! Steal my tips for creating a website that will convert new customers into lifelong brand advocates.

Websites aren’t just a calling card for your brand — they’re actually a hidden sales member on your team.

A good website will not only tell your brand story and let people know who you are, it will actually warm up your leads and get your audience prepped to purchase from you if you build it correctly.

Think about all the website you’ve explored, and try to pin point the ones that really stood out.

• Was it the vivid photos?
• The product descriptions?
• Music or graphics on the page?
• The story behind the brand?

 

Your website doesn’t just showcase your products, it’s also the first impression a new customer has with your brand, and it can ultimately do whatever you want it to. Poorly designed or written websites with low quality photos, little to no text and broken links will deter clients from buying from you.

A good website can take clients on a journey of discovery and communicate the WHY behind your brand so that by the time they actually get to that shopping cart, they will be ready to buy.

Keep reading to steal my tips for creating a website that accomplishes all of your goals, while converting customers into lifelong brand advocates that will keep coming back for more.

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Step 1: Tell your brand story in a targeted way that speaks directly to your target audience.

Your Homepage is your first chance to make a good impression, and should include these elements:

√ Mission statement
√ Unique selling proposition
√ Photos of you and/ or your product
√ 3-5 Customer testimonials

You audience cares about who you are and the solution that you are offering to solve their pain points. Whether you are a service provider or a product based business, the bottom line is that your audience doesn’t care about what you actually do from a process stand point, they care about WIIFT (what’s in it for them) so showcase your solutions and not just your product.

You also want to think of your homepage as a collection of everything in your site (like a table of contents), so include links to all of your pages with a photo + quick one liner about why they should check them out.

Remember: most visitors spend less than 5 seconds on your homepage before they make a decision to enter your site, so make this page the most beautiful and easy to navigate of all.

 

Step 2: Make your audience fall in love with you

If your visitor makes it past the homepage, you have reached a bit of success, but there is still a long way to go before convincing them to purchase. Now you have to demonstrate that you know them intimately, that you CAN solve their needs, and that you are worth their time and money.

Tell your story  through an About page that showcases that you are an expert in your field, that you identify with the buyer and that you are committed to providing them the best experience possible.

• What have you done to date?
• What problem did you overcome to get here?
• Why are you qualified to sell this product/service?
• What results have you experienced in your own life will the reader relate to?
• If you have a team, who are they and why are awesome?

 

Then showcase your VALUES.

 

√ What do you care about as a company?
√ What promises can you make in regards to your customer service?
√ Do you have any social/environmental impact you can highlight?

 

Customer success stories/quotes/testimonials are KEY here to communicate that have got the solution to solve your client’s problems. By this point in the journey, they are getting to know you, and showing that you already have wins under your belt will take them to the next step.

And by the way, make sure you optimize for mobile! Your website provider should do this for you, but make sure you follow through on your end to ensure your viewers get a consistent experience regardless of where they log in.

 

Step 3: Get them interested in what you have to offer

Once your visitor lands on your product/services page, make sure your branding is beautiful, there are a lot of photos of your product (or your smiling face if you are service based), plus pictures of happy, satisfied customers.

List out your offerings very clearly, and make your call to action clear. Include phrases like:

√ Purchase
√ Buy now
√ Add to cart
√ Set up a consultation

Make the next step absolutely clear for your visitor so they have an easy journey to purchase.

Tip: You should be linking your Products/Services page on every page so that your customers don’t have to click back to get there.

 

Every extra action that a visitor has to take on your site can be the difference between a sale or a closed tab.

 

Step 4: Offer up free content to capture emails

This will be via lead magnet, or some kind of freebie that is of high value to your visitor that will get them to give you their email in exchange for what you are offering.

Common lead magnets include:

• E-books/Guides
• Quizzes
• Coupon codes
• Free trials
• Checklists/cheat sheets
• Free Shipping
• PDF mini guides

 

TIP: It’s CRUCIAL for your long term business success to create this lead magnet, because 90% of web traffic to your site aren’t ready to purchase on the first visit.

You may have seen my lead magnets in the header or footer of my site, as well as to the right of this page (if you haven’t, go check them out!) .

Because my business is all about helping clients with digital marketing and branding, a lead magnet that will help my clients better tell their brand story is a perfect incentive to get them to understand my style. Use any kind of incentive that will influence your target audience to give you their emails.

Once you have their email, you can control how they perceive your brand and influence their decision to purchase from you via an email nurture, which I will cover in my next blog post–so stay tuned!

 

Step 5: Be clear about your service capabilities & restrictions

Transparency & communication are pivotal for establishing trust, so I’ll shout it from the rooftops:

Don’t make promises you can’t keep!

Your Contact & FAQs pages are the best way to set the tone for your relationship from the get go, whether you’re a product or service-based business.

Key topics to highlight here are your:

• Hours of operation
• Delivery times
• Return Policy

 

If you are only available from 9-5, make sure that is clear! If it takes you 5 business days to ship products to customers, communicate that up front. If it takes you 48 hours to respond to an email, make sure that you communicate that as well to your followers.

Whatever you put on your contact us page should be achievable, so if you have a full time job or receive a ton of emails, make sure to let your visitors know that you will respond within 1-2 business days, not immediately.

It is crucial to establish the proper expectations for communication with website visitors, because it would be awful to put in the work to get them to finish line, only to deter them because you weren’t clear about how you could best serve their needs.

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The main takeaway from today is that you need to put yourself in the shoes of a new website visitor. Think about their user experience and what they would want to see/think/feel. Anticipate pain points or headaches, questions they need answering and general interactions with your site as you design it, so you can create the best journey for them.

This level of attention to detail at the beginning will save you work down the road and will double or even triple your sales without the need of additional sales calls, which saves you time, effort and money!

So go ahead– start building the website of your dreams today.

And if you need help with the content, I am an expert at branding and communications, and would love to set up a completely free discovery call with you to help you achieve your goals.

 

Get Inspired
Keep checking back in weekly to stay up to date on all the latest content, as well as to get inspired as you grow what you love. If you liked this post, please share it on your social media accounts, and leave a comment below! And send me an email me (hello@celinasouffrant.com) if you have any questions, or are interested in working with me to help you build what you love!