Your website is your #1 sales tool. Whether it’s how people find you or where they go after they’ve found you, it’s important that it has all the right elements to convince, compel, and convert anyone who visits.
That’s where the basics come in.
When potential customers land on your website, they're ticking off a checklist as they go... They want to know why you're the best, that you're trustworthy, and that you're someone they'll like dealing with.
It’s your website that needs to tick these boxes by answering your visitors’ questions and reasoning with their objections as they navigate through your website.
That’s where your website basics come in. Let’s jump into them.
Here’s the gist…
- Your website needs engaging yet skimmable headlines
- CTA buttons should guide your visitors not only to enquire with you but to the different pages within your website
- Navigating around your website should be easy, logical & straightforward
- Your website should be responsive and work well on every device
- Make it clear that you're trustworthy with client logos and Google Reviews
- Make sure your brand remains cohesive
- The SEO fundamentals need to be included
- Your website copy should convince & persuade
Getting the basics right will lay the foundations for your success online 🧱
Compelling & engaging headings 🤝
Primary & secondary CTAs to guide your visitors 🧭
A primary call to action is the main action you want your visitors to take. On our website, you’ll notice green buttons that say “Get Started” or “Get a ballpark quote”. That’s our primary call to action.
A secondary call to action is the next action you want your audience to take, if they’re not ready to do the primary action.
So, if they’re on your home page, you might think the next logical step is your About page or if they’re on a service page, it might make sense for them to visit your Process page next.
A secondary CTA button allows the user to navigate to the next logical step and means you can guide their experience on your website.
Simple navigation & a clever sitemap hierarchy 👑
We said earlier on that attention spans are growing shorter and shorter, and that detail is key here. Basically, if it’s even slightly difficult to find something on your website, your visitors likely won’t stick around to find it.
They’ll just find it on a competitor’s website and choose them instead.
Logical navigation is all about making it easy. That means the menu is in an obvious spot, it’s clear that it’s a menu, and the pages in the menu are organised logically.
So, list your services under a ‘Services’ or ‘What we do’ dropdown. Pages like ‘Our Team’ can go under ‘About’.
It’s all about making it obvious, clear, and easy.
A responsive design that works on all devices 🖥
More than half of the traffic on the internet comes from phones now, so it’s absolutely essential that your website is mobile-friendly.
A responsive website is essential to ensure that your visitors can see and engage with your website, whether they’re on their phone, tablet, or widescreen computer.
Social proof: give your visitors reasons to trust you ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Benefits-driven copy is amazing, but of course, you’re going to say you’re amazing.
Including nods to other people who think you’re amazing is a great way to build credibility and trust with your audience.
Include a carousel of your business clients’ logos and be sure to share your most glowing reviews.
Consistent & cohesive branding 🎨
It’s obviously just nice to have consistent and cohesive branding. On and off your website, a cohesive brand is aesthetically appealing and can make your audience more excited to engage with you.
It’s one of those things, though, where you can’t truly understand the benefit until you see a website without cohesive branding.
Consistency in your branding sends a subtle message that you’re real, legitimate, and trustworthy. So, it’s important to get it right…
Show off the things that make you credible 🏆
Achievements & awards
Do you have any awards? Have you been nominated for a big award? Are you the best-rated business in your industry?
Look at your achievements and show them off on your website.
Success stories
Take some of your biggest wins and share them as success stories. It can be as in-depth as a full case study written up, or just a quick win with the key stats.
Sharing your success stories shows your website visitors what you’re capable of and can help them qualify themselves as someone who might succeed with you, too.
Associations & memberships
Especially for businesses in professional services, showing that you have the right professional associations and memberships is a great way to demonstrate credibility.
Get your SEO fundamentals right ✅
Keywords
You should have a basic understanding of what keywords your target market uses to search for you and which pages on your website will target those keywords.
Quality content
This means quality, well-written copy on your website pages and the inclusion of a blog with quality content written from a place of expertise.
Accessibility
Your website should be able to be accessed by any device and should be written and designed in a way that makes it simple to navigate through.
Performance
Your website visitors should be able to load your website and navigate between pages quickly. Google favours websites with a better User Experience (UX) and that starts with your website’s loading speed.
Copy that convinces & persuades ✏️
A beautiful design that holds your consistent and cohesive branding is amazing. But it doesn’t matter if the copy isn’t written to convert.
Create copy for your website that engages your audience, breaks down the benefits of teaming up with you, and communicates in a way that feels like you and your brand personified.
It should be clear, easy to read, and all about how you can help your audience.
Bringing it together: a high-performing website that ticks boxes 📈
These website basics come together to create a high-performing website that ticks the boxes your target audience is drawing up.
Your website needs to load fast, be easy to use, and simple to understand. But to convert, you need to communicate the benefits you have on offer, vouch for yourself with credibility anchors, and have others vouch for you through reviews.
These are the basics that create a website that gets you more customers.
Need a hand with the basics? Talk with our team today 👋
With a team of copywriters and web designers who are specialists in websites (exceeding the basics, too), we can help you create a website that converts your visitors on the spot.
