5 Things You NEED On Your Website
To make your DIY life a bit easier, here are the top items you must have on your website.
Being a DIY entrepreneur is hard enough but then add “website designer” to the mix and you’ve got some road bumps to go through. So I get that you might have missed a few items but if you’ve been following me for some time, you’ve likely heard me say these multiple times and others perhaps are new things you could look into having on your website.
All websites should have a contact page.
I can’t believe I’m still telling people they need a contact page. I also can’t believe that I need to tell folks they need to have a form on that page.
No matter what type of business you have, your site needs to have a contact page. E-commerce? How are people going to get a hold of you with questions (or complaints)? Service-based business? How will potential leads get in touch? A contact form gives reassurance to your lead that they can get a hold of you.
So where should you put the contact form and page?
The page can be linked to at the top navigation and/or the footer of the site. It really depends on your business. If you have an e-commerce site, you’re likely going to place it in the footer. Offer a service? Link it in the header.
All websites must have legal pages.
I get that this isn’t the most sexy part of a website but let me tell you one thing: It’s going to be hella’ sexy when it covers you from getting sued.
Although I still haven’t met anyone personally that’s gotten sued because of their site, it does happen so you want to make sure you’re legally legit.
Note: I’m not a lawyer but if you’re looking to play one on your next television episode, hit me up.
You should have a privacy policy at the very least. This is basically what tells visitors that you’ll be tracking them on your website and how you’ll use that information.
Other pages include Terms of Use, Terms and Conditions, and Accessibility Statements. Some that I don’t know if their legal but are still pretty handy for users are Shipping Policies and Return Policies.
Check out the episode with Melissa Wick and Demetrius Robinson for more legal information.
Next up…
Start capturing visitors’ information for email marketing purposes.
Really, you should be collecting emails as soon as you can. Build up that audience! I don’t mean just sending mass emails from your regular email such as Outlook or Gmail - I mean really having a system like Mailchimp that will help you schedule, track, and send emails. A great person to look up is Tonnisha English in Columbus, Ohio. She works with clients locally and nationwide to get a handle of their email marketing.
Listen to Tonnisha’s podcast episode and watch her recorded presentation.
Honestly, I know it’s hard to get someone to help you with all the stuff you have to do as an entrepreneur and then you layer on email - it feels overwhelming!
Here’s my breakdown for you:
Create a lead magnet.
Layout a simple workflow for people signing up, getting said lead magnet, and how you’ll welcome them via email.
Set that up in an email system of your choice.
Embed on your site.
Send out content your audience finds valuable.
Obviously, a lot more goes into that but just get started!
Have Call To Action on your site, especially if, well, you want to actually make a sale.
A client once told me, “I don’t know why this page hasn’t converted. I’m getting traffic but they’re just not doing anything.”
Even though the page wasn’t all that pretty, it was decent, not slow to load, and had some good copy. Then I saw it, actually, didn’t see it. There was nowhere to click. The copy didn’t drive you to contact her right now. It didn’t lead to a button that said, “BOOK YOUR SESSION.”
She wasn’t telling her users what to do next and she definitely wasn’t even going to let them click anything.
The first place a call to action should go is the top section of the page. This is called the Hero Section. You want to have something visually pleasing, a headline, and a button telling me to do something.
On the home page, your call to action buttons might be an array, since the page is essentially a collection of all your awesomeness.
Beyond that, think of it this way: when you’re on a run (or fast jog if you’re me) on a path, you’ll want a few outs. The longer the path, the more exits you’d like to have. Why? Well if you’re also like me, you’ll need to go to the restroom halfway through and need a way off the path. Same thing with your web pages.
You’ll want multiple buttons the longer the page. Where do you send people? Depending on the goal of the page, they could all go to one thing, such as the checkout to your program, or to multiple locations, like the home page and all your awesomeness.
REMEMBER THIS: You never want to leave the website visitor’s journey up to the fates.
Use amazing images on your website and bonus points if they’re of you.
Whether you’re a startup with a low budget or a seasoned entrepreneur, your website needs to have great images. Here’s how to do it:
Startup
Use quality stock images from places like Pexels and Unsplash. Anywhere you get your stock images, make sure they’re free to use for business. Purchasing stock images? Make sure they’re large enough to cover an edge-to-edge browser, just in case. A great place is Creative Market.
Do you have a bigger budget?
Awesome! Get some branded photos shot, especially of yourself. People connect with people not with a shot of a coffee mug on a desk - that reminds me that my coffee is still in the microwave. #workingmomlife
How many images do you need on your website?
Depends on the size and what your goal is but I generally tell people around 5. You can get away with 3 on a small site. You definitely don’t need those packs of 30 each day unless you’re really trying to do a lot of social posts.
Story time:
I once won a client because she said, “I know who you are. I know where you're located. I know what you look like. You're on social media. Your face is everywhere…” Compared to my competition who had no photo or bio on his website and the whole site had generic “website agency talk.” Literally, you could have pasted someone else’s logo on it and it would have fit. 🤷🏽♀️
BONUS: Use video on your website.
I get you’re awkward and hate the sound of your voice but guess what, you get to do video. Video is like taking images on your site up a notch. People hear and see you. They can connect more easily.
Have testimonials on video, even better! Have your course walk-through on video? #yasssqueen
That’s it! Make sure to follow the podcast, review it, and let me know in the comments what website and branding questions you have!
