5 Jobs Your Website Can Do for Your Business
I’ve had the opportunity to talk with thousands of business owners about their websites. One of my favorite questions to ask them is “What job do you want your website to do for you?”
I love this question because it quickly gets to the “why” behind the website project. It helps me see what their goals are for their website, and how it fits in to the rest of their business.
From the experience we’ve had building hundreds of business websites, here are five jobs your website can do for you:
1. Build legitimacy
One of the most common reasons that business owners come to us for our web design services is because they want to appear legitimate. Most of them already are very professional and successful, but their websites don’t accurately represent them.
Potential customers are judging the business from their website, and the business owner knows that they’re leaving money on the table because their website is sabotaging their success.
How to build legitimacy with your website:
Create a great impression with a professional design
Show examples or case studies of your work
Share your knowledge through blog posts
Display quotes from happy customers
Feature logos of respected companies you’ve worked with
Show photos of your team with relevant bios
Include a press section with places you’ve been featured
If you want to see examples of sites designed to build legitimacy, the consultants part of our portfolio is a good place to start!
2. Help people discover you
Many small businesses get a large portion of their customers through referrals. This is great, and a professional website can really help convert those referrals into paying customers.
But what if you could take it a step further? What if your website could actively spread the word about your business?
How to help new people find your website:
Strategically use keywords in your page titles and URLs
Write long-form blog posts than answer customer questions
Use alt text for your images so people can find them
Set up a Google My Business profile
List your company website in online directories
Get respected websites to link to you
Follow other SEO best practices
By the way, when you work with our team, we handle a lot of the on-page SEO best practices for you!
3. Build your email list
Once a potential customer discovers your website, how can you continue to build trust with them until they’re ready to buy?
Email is one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to build a relationship with potential customers. That’s why it’s almost always a good idea to start building your email list.
How to build your email list through your website:
Include a sign-up box in the footer of every page
Allow people to subscribe and get blog posts delivered
Offer a valuable lead magnet in exchange for an email
You can check out one of my previous posts for a list of lead magnet ideas and how to choose the right one.
4. Make sales for you
If you have physical products, digital products, or productized services, you can actually make sales while you sleep when you set up e-commerce on your website.
How to make sales through your website:
Set up a store on your site (it’s easy with Squarespace)
Add digital products like guides, videos, or courses
Sell workshops as a service product
Sell physical products and ship them to your customers
Or open a merch shop and let Printful do the fulfillment
Include FAQs to help customers take the leap
If you’re curious, here are a few e-commerce websites we’ve built for our clients using Squarespace.
5. Increase quality of leads
Some of our clients don’t want more leads. They have too many!
Most companies in this position work with just a few large clients or do a few large projects over the course of the year instead of serving a higher volume of smaller customers.
In this case it’s smart to focus on a quality-over-quantity approach, and your website can help! Using the messages and info on your website to filter people before they even contact you can save you (and your leads) a lot of time.
Here’s how to increase the quality of leads from your site:
Be clear about your niche (only those that fit will reach out)
Publish your pricing (this will disqualify some leads)
List the types of problems you don’t solve on your site
Change your contact form to a detailed application (only the most interested leads will make it through)
What jobs do you want your new website to do?
If you’re interested in seeing how we can help you create a website that meets your goals, meet with one of our designers!