Would you build a house without a blueprint or take a cross-country road trip without a map? Probably not — the same idea of having a plan in place also applies to creating a website building strategy for your business.
This is certainly a process that requires the experience and expertise of a website developer, but you’ll need to collaborate and communicate with your designer to ensure your strategy is being followed. Make sure that you’re including some crucial elements along the way.
Here’s Why You Need A Website Strategy
The website building strategy process isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. There are countless numbers of third-party integrations, widgets, themes, and upgrades out there and it can cause some serious overload to know which are right for your website. Focus on a few universal requirements to help hone in on what you need to help your business grow.
The truth is that there’s no one “right” way to build a website. In fact, there are so many integrations, themes, and upgrades available, that it can be overwhelming to know exactly what your website needs for it to help your business grow. By focusing on a handful of must-haves, you’ll narrow down your options and cut out the rest of the noise.
Pinpoint a Purpose
What do you want your website to do to help your business? How will you track the progress and make sure you’re reaching your goals?
Figure out the purpose behind your website building strategy. If you have a physical business location, your website should become a marketing tool for shoppers or clients in your own backyard. Websites that offer eCommerce services will need a different strategy and tools to expand visibility and grow revenue through customers that are making purchases online. Once you’ve clearly established why you’re building a new website, document a series of goals that help you benchmark the site’s success in the coming months and even for the next few years.
Focus On Your Target
Have you laid out your buyer persona? Are you clear on your target demographic? How do you want them to feel and what action should they take when they land on your website?
In this day and age, your business website will likely be the first place customers land on when they’re searching for a solution to their problems. Your site needs to clearly relate how your business can address your pain points. Put yourself in their shoes and think about what they’ll see and read when they arrive — sleek design is always nice, but it should work in tandem with content and integrations in order to help them figure out where your business products or services fit into their lifestyle.
Branding As A Cornerstone
How can your website help to continue your brand messaging? Why does your business stand apart from the competition?
This is the part of the strategy that should be built around your current branding efforts. What your website says to visitors needs to help build a connection or a relationship, either with design elements or copy and content. Everything you add or post needs to let current and potential customers know that they can trust you, and if you’re not comfortable selling yourself or your business, it’s a wise idea to work with a web designer that has connections to a professional copywriter.
Stand Out Within A Niche
What can you do to stand out within your industry? Are you familiar with your competition and what they’re doing online?
Time to do a little light industrial espionage. Make a list of your competitors and scope out their websites and other online content like social media or even guest blog posts. The idea here isn’t to copy what they’re doing, but instead look for how they’re following industry trends or news and leveraging them to help grow their business. Share what you find with your website designer to give them a better idea of how to best serve your customers when building a site.
Invest In The Implementation
What do you need to get your website up and running? How can you maintain and improve it over its lifetime?
Once you’ve worked out the foundation of your website building strategy, it’s launch time — the work doesn’t end when the site goes live. Even if you have a great memory, it’s a wise idea to make to-do lists and share them with your website designer. Think about what you’ll need to collaborate on once the website launches to make sure it works efficiently, which goals you created earlier in the process to track, and what to do if something should go wrong and your site needs fixing.
With the right strategy — and the guidance of a professional website design team — you’ll have a business site that works hard to keep your business growing and thriving well into the future.
