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Having built hundreds of websites for clients over the past 11 years I see some things that work exceptionally well every time and other things that are invariably almost always failures.
Putting a website together is a science but not rocket science, and I will show you how we do it with our clients.
Simple things like …
– how big to make the logo and were to place it
– whether to use a background image or plain background
– why you should never use stock images
– the most important element to put in the top right that results in an insane amount of inquiries
– why the worst place to start is to replicate competitors websites
– how to automate your marketing and qualifying your leads before they pick up the phone (all in the website)
to …
– the most effective call to action
– the highest converting instruction on a contact form
– optimal layout of the header, sidebar, footer, body
– quick hacks to getting high converting copy
– effective use of proof and credibility elements
– how and why you should use your highest revenue products and services on the home page
None of this is about the visual design (that comes next), but about the functional design to achieve the purpose of the website.
Asking the question at the very start “What is the real job of the website?” is absolutely critical to the success of it. Hint what most people think is the purpose is usually wrong … it is something else so simple (and the same for 98% of the businesses we work with) – get this right and the rest of building a website just falls into place, almost!
If you buy a nice looking template then add your logo, content and branding, you are doing it all wrong. Why? Because most theme authors make their templates Pop and Wow, but don’t know build with the end in mind for business nor do they know where to place each element on the site to optimise the real purpose giving you the result you need. Every single element, image, text, block of colour and visual element should ‘earn’ it’s way onto the page, not be there just because it looks great.
For example, beautiful full width, image rich sliders look fantastic but hardly ever add any value to the visitor experience, often harming conversions of visitors to enquire rather than assist them.
As a web developer our purpose over the past 8 years has been to create websites that help businesses get more leads and enquiries, make more sales (in a way that is surprisingly simple), and recover the cost of the website in one to five transactions. A local Burleigh pest control business said recently that he has “…never had so much cash” since his site was made over – his words. And just one of the simple changes we made to his website accounts for a jump in his enquiries (you don’t need to be a developer to do this).
Another client, a book and manuscript editor, resisted using this element for a couple of years, and just this week said she relented and added it to here website. That one change she said, now accounts for 50% of all her enquiries.
If you are building a website (or need to give it a makeover), this session will reveal from the past 8 years in the trenches working with a wide range of businesses, what works and what doesn’t to create a high converting effective tool for a profitable business website.
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Nik Cree
I run a successful Online Marketing Agency that works with business to create websites that work… meaning they get leads and enquiries to turn into customers. Throughout my career I discovered some pretty cool tools and apps that helped in my business and now work with clients as well. I also run the "Business Owners …
