Website Planning E-Course
I hope you’ve found this course helpful and you are ready to get started on a website for your business, whether you are DIY-ing or working with a designer. If you decide to use a designer, please take a look at my website packages ad I’d be delighted to work with you!
Below is a recap of everything you’ve learned if you want to come back and reference in the future.
DAY 1
What is the purpose of your website?
Everyone website should have one goal in mind for the user. Is it to sign up to a mailing list, book an enquiry, fill out a form, make a purchase? Of course, your website can do multiple things, but there will be one thing above all that is the difference maker for your business. This is going to help keep your website clear and easy to navigate. Humans on the internet have a very short attention span so you want to keep your website as simple and obvious as possible.
DAY 2
Who are you speaking to?
Text on your website is one of the most important elements you have to think about. It’s a balance of not boring your website users and telling them (and search engines) enough about what you do so that want to work with you.
You want to keep your ideal client in mind when you are pulling together the copy for your website, starting with the opening text on your site which will be your mission statement. You want to be crystal clear about what you do and who you help so that people know immediately that they are in the right place when they land on your website.
DAY 3
How do you take them from landing on your site to acting?
In day one we thought about the one thing you wanted people to do when they visited your website. Today we are going to think about how we get people to take that step. People need to be guided through your content in a logical way, allowing them to get to know you and your business, finding out about your product or service, then making that finally step or booking or buying from you.
On top of that, you want to make that final step the most obvious step on every page. So no matter where they are in that overall journey of connecting with you, they can easily take the final step.
DAY 4
How do you infuse your brand in your website?
Your website should represent your business and your brand completely. It should be easily recognisable as yours and your ideal customers should feel totally understood and at home there. This will come from the text you use on your website alongside all of the visual elements.
If you have worked with a brand designer already, make sure that your website designer has all of that information so they can use the correct colours and fonts on your site.
If you don’t have a brand designed yet, but know you need to get your website up and running, you can pull together your own simple style palette to guide you. This sae palette should be used wherever your business shows up online and in real life to start building a visual brand recognition. So people remember you and associate you with that style.
I recommend a simple palette or 3 – 5 colours. One pale colour for backgrounds, one dark colour for text and graphics and one accent colours for links and buttons. You can think of the 60, 30, 10 principle of design here, where your light colour will represent 60% of the page, your dark colour 30% and your accent colour just 10%, so that it really stands out and draws attention.
The second part of your brand is the words that you use. Make sure the text on your site is written in the same tone of voice that your ideal customers use. You don’t want to be too casual when you are working with corporate clients, just as you would want to use more relaxed language if you are trying to convey a more personable friendly brand.