If you can believe it, we’re almost halfway through 2021, the year after the global pandemic turned us into online zombies. I certainly plead guilty! It was hard to avoid since I help new female entrepreneurs crack the code of finding clients and making money online AND I have 4 children who went through online schooling. Hands up to a crazy amount of screen time for me!
However, all that time spent on our computers highlighted the fact that while having a website has always been important, now it’s more important than ever. Why? Because when you’re serving people online, your website is usually the first point of contact where people go to find out who you are, what you do and how you can help them. But in order to be successful, your website needs to do 3 things:
Confirm who you are
Capture your dream client’s name and email address
Convert them into paying clients
That’s quite a few C words! Let’s break them down and see why they’re so important.
Confirm
What’s the first thing you do when you want to find out about a person or service that you saw on social or read about? You google them and check out their website, right? You do this because a good website makes you credible and professional. In fact,
75% of people base credibility by a website – UK Web Host Review
So, in order to be credible, your website needs to be professional, explain who you are and what you do.
Top Tip: In order to have a winning website, you always need to talk to your customers about them, even when you are talking about yourself. That may sound confusing, but it means that even though they’re coming to find out who you are, what they really want to know is “can this person help me?” Less about you and more about them!
Capture
One of the most important things your website can do is capture information about your clients. Specifically, their name and email so they can join your email list. In the world of online marketing, your email list is your most important asset because it allows you to build a relationship with your potential customers and in time, sell to them.
How do you capture this vital information? With a free offer also known as a freebie, opt in or lead magnet. It usually takes the form of a guide, worksheet, checklist, video tutorial, eBook, voice recording, etc. There are many options, but please note, whatever free offer you create must provide genuine value to your future customers. Their email is valuable, and they should get something valuable in return.
Once you’ve created your amazing lead magnet, your next step is to put it prominently all over your website to capture emails. It’s especially important for you to put this offer on your home page.
Convert
Now we come to the moolah. You need to make money to have a successful business. No matter how heart centred you are, converting fans and followers into paying clients is usually a main business objective. Of course it is. Your website needs to make that process as simple as possible because at the first sign of friction, your potential clients will click off.
What does that look like? Firstly, your website needs to be simple to navigate. Can they easily find your products and services? Can they easily get in touch with you? Is there a call to action to learn more or book a call that takes them to a converting sales page?
Secondly, it helps to be transparent with your pricing. Unless you are selling a very high-ticket item, it’s often best to put your pricing next to your offers. People want to know how much things cost. If you value your services and price them fairly, losing someone who clicks off because of price isn’t a problem because they’re probably wrong for you anyway. If they can’t afford your products, then they’re not your dream client and you don’t need to chase them.
So now you know a whole lot of C words that can make your website the #1 tool in your business. If you’re still creating your website, then try keeping them in mind as you go through the process. If you already have a website, then you can do a self-audit to see if it’s hitting the three Cs. I would love to hear which element you plan to focus on first and what you discover about your website in the comments below.