Most websites are significantly under-utilized. Oftentimes it’s because they lack key elements to actually make an impact on visitors.
When set up properly, an effective website should: 1) tell visitors what you offer and the benefits of your services (education), 2) show visitors who you are and why they can trust you (connection) and 3) ultimately encourage visitors to reach out and become leads (conversion).
Since almost all of your potential customers or clients will visit your website before reaching out to you directly, even if they were referred to you, it’s important to put your best foot forward with your website.
Here are 7 key website components to focus on to get the most value out of your online presence.
1. Updated Imagery and Content
Maintaining your content is crucial to ensuring an effective, educational website. People come to your site to get their questions answered and learn more about your company. If your business model shifts or you add a new service, product, or team member, reflect the changes on your website. People notice when a website is not up to date, which can harm their impression of you.
Content should also never be overwhelming or confusing. Most website visitors prefer to scan and scroll rather than spend a lot of time reading. Simplicity is key when it comes to capturing people’s attention. Strike a balance between the visual and written content on your site to keep people engaged and give them just enough information to understand who you are and what you offer.
Additionally, you want to use high-quality, professional photography on your site. People will set expectations for the professionalism or quality of your business as they browse your website, and blurry or outdated photography can leave a bad impression.
Organic Produce Direct effectively balances written content with photography and illustrations to draw visitors in. Short, easy-to-read paragraphs introduce their services without providing too much detail. The crisp photography is visually engaging and relevant to their services, making for a well-rounded design.
2. Display Your Team
People want to feel connected to and familiar with the companies they work with. Team pages tend to be one of the most highly visited pages since people want to see who they are speaking to and potentially working with.
A team page can share headshots, names, positions, bios, and contact info for each team member. It’s important to keep your team page and everyone’s bios updated as the company or team members change.
Appstar's Company page has a section dedicated to its leadership team, allowing visitors to get a better sense of who they might be working or speaking with when they engage with the company. People can hover over and click on any person and read their bio to learn more about their experience.
3. Highlight Your Work
Most people want to ensure that they work with a reputable and experienced company. Sharing examples of your previous work is one of the best ways to establish trust and credibility. This can be done by displaying projects, key clients, case studies, and client testimonials.
If you offer client services, case studies can show who you have experience helping and what process you’ve taken to overcome their problem to reach a solution.
Pure Portfolios introduces case studies directly on their homepage with buttons that guide people to specific pages that outline the client’s situation, the approach to establish a plan, and the results achieved.
If your company is project-based, a portfolio is a great way to feature the types of projects you specialize in and reaffirm the quality of your work.
New Perspective Design features high-quality images from their previous home projects in a portfolio. You can take your portfolio a step further and include a detail page for each project to share more about the location, project type, and process.
4. Incorporate Resources
Many of your potential clients are looking for industry thought leaders and may prefer to work with companies that offer something valuable beyond just their services.
One way to establish yourself as a thought leader is to share up-to-date resources on your website. These can include blogs, videos, podcast episodes, checklists or guides, and articles or whitepapers.
Regardless of the type of content you share, make sure you post consistently and keep it organized. There are a lot of WordPress blog design options, so it’s important to consider the type of content you’re sharing and how it will be categorized.
Appalachian Mountain Club offers a resource library that includes documents, books, maps, and other tools to help people successfully plan their next outdoor adventure. The simple page layout makes it easy for people to scan the resources and find what they’re looking for.
Once someone chooses a section from the home page, they can easily navigate the available articles or documents with the site’s clean layout.
5. Share Videos
Another, more engaging resource you can share on your site are videos. Use videos to talk about your company, team, services, or industry in a more engaging format. They’re also a great tool for companies with more complicated products, services, or processes since they allow for a detailed, visual explanation.
If you’re going to include videos on your site, make sure they’re accessible for all users. There are a few tips for creating accessible video content, but one primary element is to ensure you have closed captions available.
As seen above, Profisee features a YouTube-embedded video on the website’s home page to share more about their benefits. The service-oriented video breaks up the site’s written content and offers a dynamic way for people to learn more. Closed captions can be easily turned on for those who need them.
6. Effective Newsletter Email Sign-up
Incorporating a newsletter sign-up or opt-in on your website is a great way to establish a connection that extends beyond the initial website visit.
One of the easiest and most cost-friendly ways to start is by building an email list and sending newsletters consistently. Even if your recipients don’t read every newsletter, just having your name appear in their inbox can keep your company top of mind.
Your website can be integrated with your email marketing platform to capture new contacts for your email list. You can do this with a standard form fill, as seen below, or by implementing a lead gen to provide them with something valuable in exchange for their information.
Vetmab Bio uses a newsletter to keep people informed of research updates. The simple panel tells people exactly what they can expect should they choose to provide their contact information, which would make them more inclined to do so.
7. Introduce Your Process
Before reaching out, many people will want to know what they can expect if they work with you. Creating a process page can go a long way to address their questions, set expectations and quell hesitations.
As with the rest of your site’s content, your process should be simple and straightforward. We always recommend sharing the main three steps to prevent people from feeling overwhelmed by the longer process.
To manage expectations, Legacy Wealth Planning introduces their 3-step client onboarding process directly on the site’s home page. This tells visitors exactly what they can expect if they reach out to the team, and then guides them to a more detailed process page that encourages people to schedule the 20-minute call via Calendly.
Conclusion
Your website can be a very powerful tool to source new leads, but only if used to its full potential. When working on your website, remember to always think about the 3 pillars: education, connection and conversion.
Every now and then, re-evaluate what information you’re sharing and how you’re sharing it. As your industry and the client climate evolve, be sure to keep your website up to date to make the most impact on your visitors.
If you have any questions about how to maximize your website’s potential or possibly even start a website redesign project, feel free to reach out to us anytime!
